Armley to St Aidan's RSPB Nature Reserve (mostly traffic-free)

A varied route with some rough off-road sections, combining the best of town and country. Starts along the Leeds/Liverpool canal towpath into Leeds, then brief road section through the city centre to the Royal Armouries where we join the Aire Calder Navigation all the way past Woodlesford Lock and Lemonroyd Marina, around the perimeter of the nature reserve at St Aidan's to the RSPB Visitor Centre, where we'll stop for refreshments.

We'll return via Newsam Green Road and Pontefract Lane at the rear of Temple Newsam Park, where we'll rejoin National Cycle Route 66 and the River Aire to Leeds city centre and retrace our path back along the canal to Armley Mills.

Bring money for a drink/snack at St Aidan's, as well as a puncture repair kit (or spare inner tube) and dress for the weather on the day (spare warm layers and a waterproof, gloves etc).

**NB: Some of the canal and river paths on this route are rough and uneven and will be muddy after wet weather, and there are a couple of short gravelly sections so MTB bikes or hybrids with MTB tyres are preferable. At Skelton Grange we have to push/carry our bikes up the side of the bridge and down the steep steps at the other side, but we can help each other one at a time.

See description

Not suitable for narrow road tyres due to muddy paths.