The Dorset Divide

The Dorset divide, the longest bikepacking route in Dorset at around 340 miles even though it’s the longest, a lot of that is filled with road slogs with high hedges meaning there isn’t so much to see. It’s not all bad, of course there is plenty of beauty around Dorset and this route does explore a lot of that, but it does also just feel like it goes on and on and on. The coastal sections are the memorable bits on a route like this, and you do get to explore the coast around the isle of Portland, which is nice because it often somewhere that gets overlooked. It is where this route does officially start which ill admit is a cool place to start and finish (yeah a route called a divide is a loop) everything must be a divide I guess. But starting at the lighthouse is pretty cool. The GPX you can download here actually starts at Bournemouth train station because, well it was just more practical for me, but start where ever you like its a loop.

The trails are great and bad on this route, it does use some of the best trails in the area, but it is also filled with plenty of narrow unridable trials that become overgrown with brambles and thorns. There is also a fair amount of narrow country lanes along this route, which actually makes the bike choice a little harder because at time you wish you had the gravel bike, the other times the MTB. Either way, some of the hills are steep, so make sure you have nice easy gearing.

You will never be too far away from somewhere to refuel and refill, and you will get a chance to test your legs up the famous Gold hill AKA Hovis Hill

As you can probably tell this is probably my least favourite Dorset route, I think the Dorset 330 or the Dorset dash for something shorter are far more fun.