Cycling The Full Leeds Liverpool Canal – The Ultimate Canal 127 Miles

Cycling the Full Leeds Liverpool Canal | 127 Miles of Bikepacking Adventure in 4K

Join me on a breathtaking cycling adventure along the entire Leeds Liverpool Canal — from the historic docks of Liverpool to the heart of Leeds. This epic ride includes a scenic overnight wild camp in Burnley, and features more of the canal than any other cycling video out there!

🚴‍♂️ Whether you’re planning a bikepacking trip, a multi-day cycle tour, or even attempting the full ride in one day, this guide will help you prepare, navigate, and get inspired.

✅ Perfect for:
• Bikepackers tackling the Leeds Liverpool Canal
• UK cycle touring enthusiasts
• Adventure cyclists looking for scenic canal routes
• Anyone researching long-distance canal rides in England

📍 Route Highlights:

Liverpool Waterfront

Wigan Pier

Burnley Embankment

Bingley 5 Rise Locks

Leeds Basin

🎥 Shot in stunning 4K with cinematic drone footage, this is your ultimate visual guide to cycling the Leeds Liverpool Canal. Don’t miss the beauty, history, and challenge of this iconic 127-mile route.

👉 Subscribe for more UK cycling adventures, tips, and touring inspiration!

#LeedsLiverpoolCanal #BikepackingUK #CycleTouring #CanalRide #CyclingAdventure #4KCycling #BikeTrekkingWithKarl #UKBikepacking #LongDistanceCycling

Here are links to my kit and some things i wish for! If you buy anything from these links I do get a commission and you do not pay any extra! You just watching and liking the video is always enough!

Bike:

Brooks B17 Saddle – https://amzn.to/3F60HoD
Continentgal Unisex’s CTM516 Tyre – https://amzn.to/3FmXtNA
Lamicall Mobile Phone Holder – https://amzn.to/3DpJzK4
Mud Gurads – https://amzn.to/43vUPPI

Clothing:

Danish Endurance Cycling bib shorts – https://amzn.to/3QPipiS
DHERA Cycling Bib Trousers – https://amzn.to/3QXNgcZ
Buff Merino Wool Multi Functional Headwear – https://amzn.to/3QQkgnx
Yobenki Warm Winter Gloves – https://amzn.to/3FcsdB2
Rockbros Cycling Glasses – https://amzn.to/3FdW783
Sealskinz socks – https://amzn.to/41NzXSH
French Fitnbess Revolution Helmet Liner – https://amzn.to/3XtWMrZ
Fatvoto Mountain Bike Helmet – https://amzn.to/3Fe5qES
Fox Ranger 2.l Water Mens Waterproof – https://amzn.to/4kw3Ez0
Five Ten Mens Bike Shoe – https://amzn.to/3QQkkUj

Recording:

DJI Standard 4 combo – https://amzn.to/3FdTbs4
DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro Standard Combo – https://amzn.to/3FdBatN
DJI mini 4k drone – https://amzn.to/3FmWvAW
DJI mini 4k drone fly more ( you get extra batteries) – https://amzn.to/3DxNh4k
DJI mini 4 pro drone – https://amzn.to/3DC1BJ4
DJI mic 2 – https://amzn.to/4bB3RwJ
DJI Lavalier – https://amzn.to/3DmqM2o
DJI mini mic – https://amzn.to/41M0dgi
Boya mic – https://amzn.to/43rXuKg

Chapters

Intro 0:00
Liverpool 0:39
Journey To Wigan 2:29
Journey To Burnley 6:53
Access denied and Camping 9:19
Journey To Skipton 13:25
Skipton 17:00
Journey To Bingley 18:00
5 Rise 18:43
Journey To Leeds 19:50
Reunited Armoury 20:40
Help! Canal River Trust! 21:45

today on Bike Trekking with Carl I’ll be showing you the Leeds Liverpool Canal from the ground and the air this is my most ambitious project to date along the way I’ll be carrying a tent and all the equipment I need to spend one night over Midway so there’s so much to see so much to do and so much work’s gone into this video and all I ask from you is a like a comment a subscription and even maybe a share because all this really helps me out and helps me bring to you more videos like this one so without any further ado let’s do this [Music] hey man how the hell you doing i’ve been just fine living life with a new sand in my mind all I hear is music watching your mouth move damn you look stupid i feel like everyone’s a stranger small talk with your narcissistic neighbor she’s real hot but they said to never date her ah I agree but you did and I hate her you want to get away you better get in line won’t go another day of wasting any time i’ve got a lot to say can’t hold it in this time got no filter i got no filter no filter i got no filter no filter i got no filter no filter i got no filter [Music] [Applause] [Music] good morning and welcome to the Leeds Liverpool Canal today’s ride is going to be epic there is so much stuff to see on this route we’re going to be bike packing we’re going to see some of the wonders of the canal it’s 5:00 a.m it’s going to be 30° today which is why I’m starting so early because I cannot ride in that heat so yeah let’s go let’s do this [Music] i was setting out from the historic ports of Liverpool i made my start on the Leadeds Liverpool Canal and it was surprising how quickly it changed into a more rural setting considering how close we are to a city here it really is green and the mists were clinging to the waters but people were already out walking enjoying this lovely early morning sunshine and it wasn’t just the people it was the birds as well they were out feeding the chicks i was so engrossed in this ride that I actually forgot about the injury I’d sustained during the year that was making me worry whether I could complete this ride or not i mean instantly I I was in this world there’s one thing to point out the toe paths here are quite narrow and at this time of year June when I did this ride they are very overgrown so be prepared for stings scratches that kind of thing but trust me it will not diminish or take away from how amazing this ride is found this little oasis here at the ship end so I’m just making myself quick coffee and actually looks like the water could be ready [Music] i’m just so excited i’m so excited right now i’m having so much fun uh it’s just I feel like a kid again i mean years ago like in my 20ies I used to do bike packing quite regularly i’m not even sure they called it bike packing back then they used to call it like bivvie whacking or something cuz they used to take a bivvie a bivvie bag and like a tarp and sleep under that then I did get a tent eventually did upgrade to a tent cuz I but I don’t know i just feel so good right now feels so good whether that feel is going to you know persist throughout the day the weather’s good and I just feel like I’m on an adventure i really do got so many emotions going on right now i don’t know what’s going on with me but good ones if you’re paying attention there’s lots of little Easter eggs on this ride for example this area here this is where they took the first cutting for the construction of the canal and that statue was a Na’vi one of the workers who constructed the canal and this statue here well that’s uh that’s two fish eating each other i’m not really sure what that is but uh you know leave a comment if you know what it is there’s mill buildings pill boxes there’s even a windmill which I wasn’t expecting to see and that’s been converted into a art gallery an artist is actually displaying and selling his work there so well worth a little stop and there’s a cafe and shop nearby if you need to refuel well that’s a first i just got a water refill in a windmill so happy days another call england a green and pleasant land and when I’m here I agree with it as the day moved on the sun rose higher and those temperatures started to hit 30° and this is where I started to bake quite literally bake i kept just sticking on layers and layers of sun cream but it didn’t really seem to help i still felt like I was burning and as you can see on the side I was on there was no shade [Music] i can’t believe we made it to Wigan already that’s absolutely mental wigan was the heart of the Leeds Liverpool Canal this location was literally just pumping coal out all over the country coal barges would have been lined up all around here filled with mounds of coal ready to go up and down the canal to literally fuel the industrial revolution i only did the lay branch not too long ago so I I know it i know it here somewhat so yeah can’t believe I’m here already uh making really good time let’s keep pushing just exiting Wigan and the locks are back with a vengeance like uh it’s actually a bit more hilly than I was expecting so that’s slowing me down a little bit get up this one but yeah it’s like lock this year paying for the lack of locks earlier and it is getting hot like seriously hot [Music] that has to be the least welcoming sign I have ever seen in my life i mean it’s trying but it’s not so welcoming is it it was at this point I realized actually yeah my bike is very heavy because it’s got a big tent on it uh the hills certainly reminded me of that this squirrel he lives in Blackburn he’s super friendly give him a nut say hello one thing I would mention when doing this route is between Wigan and I think like Burnley or Blackburn they put lots of like aggregate down in sections of the canal it’s really thick chunky stuff not the piece stuff you see in here and it’s a pain to cycle on so um if you’re on a mountain bike you’ll probably be okay but when you’ve got thin tires it’s tough going that is an accurate representation of somebody from Blackburn i’ve been there now and they do look like that a lot of the old mill buildings and peers have been converted into entertainment venues like this one people were listening to reggae and drinking beer this is the halfway point of the Leads Liverpool Canal exactly halfway and today apparently is the hottest day of the year in England so far i feel like the uh scenery’s changed a fair bit now and the toe path’s now just grass it’s just grass but we’re getting close we are 8 miles 8 miles away i’m loving it still though i’m having such a I am really genuinely having such a good time i’ve got to say thank you to my wife for letting me do this that’s pretty awesome of a after being so confident that I only had like eight or so miles to go uh things went terribly wrong after that i ended up doing a lot of additional mileage and I’ll tell you more about that in a second uh upon arriving at the campsite I decided I should try and help somebody change the tire on their bike um which I wasn’t in any position to do um it was well and truly 30° at this point and I was dehydrated hungry tired um and I got quite sick the reason I’m telling you this is cuz I’m about to come on camera and I just look awful i look really awful so don’t worry about me um I wasn’t as bad as I looked although I was a wee bit stressed we’ll just put it like that so getting to the campsite turned into an absolute nightmare because somebody wouldn’t let me go across their land to get here it looked like a bridal way the map said it was a bridal way uh the the lady that stopped me said “Oh yes this would be the quickest way to get to the campsite but I’m still not going to let you.” I told her I’d cycle from Liverpool all the way to Burnley she didn’t care um so I had to double back on myself and cycle another um 5 miles just to try and make it to the campsite and the route wasn’t a good route it was a difficult route as well which I didn’t need after a long day of cycling uh the next issue I’ve had was the reason I’ve picked this campsite is one is because it’s like midway um but also the owner of the campsite said they would let me charge my equipment in their house well they’re nowhere to be seen the owner’s nowhere to be seen and I asked the guy in the caravan and he’s just said “Uh yeah she’s never here.” So I was meant to be cooking um I was going to be using water from this campsite to rehydrate some pastra I’d made but I ain’t going to do that i’m not going to uh drink the toilet water here so I’ve ordered Donna meat and chips and a can of Coke and a can of Coke and that’s coming from uh that’s coming from the local town so I’ve just given like the name and address of the of the farm and they’re going to deliver it here so they’re going to call me when it shows up so yeah we’re we’re So yeah oh right they’re calling me now i’m going to go that with Madonna meat here we go mate so this is the uh this is my traditional well-made um my camp food which is Donna and chips and mint sauce oh do you know what it doesn’t Oh no they’re not giving me a man oh well we’re getting in with the fingers that’s not bad actually I can honestly say I’ve never felt better after some donat and chips the neighbor whose bike I tried to fix let me charge my equipment in his caravan and if you thought today was good well tomorrow is going to be even better w so it’s nearly uh 4:00 a.m uh so the plan is today just to get an early start on it again cuz uh it’s going to be another hot one today it might even be hotter than might even be hotter today than it was yesterday so yeah let’s uh let’s just get some coffee on and uh pack up and get moving by the time I’ve done that it’ll be light let’s go there we go there’s a face rejoining the Le Liverpool Canal i I took a minute just to appreciate the cool weather uh but there’s one thing I’ve got to say about this area Burnley Nelson onwards uh the birds here they’re not like the Liverpool birds the Liverpool birds you know they’re early risers the ones around Burnley and Nelson they like a good lion and the swans certainly let me know they weren’t happy with my presence there was snoozing ducks and just all kinds of creatures that just really didn’t really appreciate me being around but who can blame them nobody likes cyclist i’m just trying to come past yeah don’t mind me i’m sorry yeah I know i’ve just reached a very um cool location here this is where I did my first ever ride on the uh on the channel my ride on the Leverfield Canal this is where I started from and this is where I rode with my little boy like uh a year ago now how cool is that i was sentimental to be back here but yeah he was riding down there on his little bike [Music] happy memories behind me there’s foul ridge tunnel and that was one of the main challenges in the construction of this canal they couldn’t go over it so they had to go through it and we go a big tunnel and that means we’re going to have to go up and over so let’s go and there she is the other side of the tunnel here he comes here he comes woo come on [Music] beggars can’t be choosers it’s like I’m drinking with the dogs [Music] that behind me is the double bridge i wish I could tell you more about it but it looks like they thought it’s not quite high enough so they just built another bridge on top of it double bridge [Music] i don’t know why but I just love it here and uh as I said last time I was here you could get here on a bike it just looks so Yorkshire Dales even though it’s not even in the Yorkshire Dales just look at it it’s so beautiful here yeah and we’re in Yorkshire now and on just on that side of the canal that’s the Yorkshire Dales over there and it is a green and glorious land and glorious Yorkshire i was born in Yorkshire and it’s a it’s a damn farm place can’t believe how far I’ve come a long way nearly 100 miles from Liverpool now skipton next i’m looking forward to Skipton i love Skippton love Skippson welcome to Skipton and this is my argument on why you shouldn’t skip Skippton so Skippton’s full name is actually Skipton on Swale it’s shortened to Skipton and Skippton comes from the old English word skip which means sheep fascinating skipton Castle is over 900 years old yeah that’s right it’s a little town with a castle in it come on also there’s a market there a really good market for a fact uh you’ve also got the canal little boatyard where you can buy an ice cream from a boat uh you’ve got cafes shops lots of little areas to sit away and just have a little rest get out the sun uh there’s also a church there that’s pretty cool um so yeah Skippton I would recommend it that was a good little break in Skipton now it’s uh time to get back to it so to try and keep this video a reasonable length I’m going to summarize the next bit of the ride because there’s just so much to see shortly after leaving Skipton you’ll come across this memorial this is to commemorate the servicemen who passed away after their plane crashed here nearby oh yes there’s also this boat here that’s made out of old pianos yes old pianos you heard me right uh the plan is in the future to start selling coffees out of here so keep an eye out for that one after lots of riding through absolutely glorious countryside it was time to see one of the wonders of the canal world the Bingley five these are the Bingley five rise locks it’s a staircase lock system on the Leads Liverpool canal so as the name suggests it’s five locks joined together and that helps boats either be raised or lowered by nearly 60 ft it was built in 1774 and at the time it was an engineering marvel and to be honest today it still is it can take a boat an hour and a half to get through here and your average boater isn’t allowed to go through this thing by themselves they’ve got to be overseen by a trained expert one of the uh river trust volunteers was telling me that you can easily tip your boat to this lock if you don’t do it correctly so it needs to be done by a professional and even if you don’t understand the engineering you’re not into canals or boats i mean you’ve just got to appreciate it for the spectacle that it is just behind there that’s my uh that’s my film crew there i just uh you know they’re just following me around get a couple of you know all the extra shots and stuff it’s pretty big time and the time it come to start thinking about the end of this ride there’s still a lot of miles to cover but I tell you what they are good miles the Yorkshire side of this route the the canal toe paths are really wellmaintained and looked after the surfaces are pristine as it just makes for a joy to ride on what can I say about the Leadeds Liverpool Canal well it really is the ultimate canal the consistency of the places you visit just doesn’t really dip the entire way there’s so much to see there’s so much history there are a couple of tiny bits that need some TLC but they are so few and far between they don’t take away from this journey starting from the epic Victorian warehouses of Liverpool and finishing in the huge industrial city of Leeds it’s just a great ending and because I like to make things a little bit more difficult for myself I picked my ending point as the Royal Armies where my son and wife would be waiting for me where I was sure I was going to get a cinematic welcome oh no flipping for a welcome you got to [Music] Hey man how the hell you doing i’ve been just fine living life with a new sand in my mind all I hear is music watching your mouth move damn you look stupid i feel like everyone’s a stranger small talk with your narcissistic neighbor she’s real hot but they say they never date her i agree but you did and I hate her you want to get away you better get in line we’ll go another day i’m Michaela Robson um so we’re here with the Canal and River Trust and our government funding is getting cut in half from £50 million to£25 million by 2027 and it cost us over 250 million pounds just to maintain the canals alone um so that’s causing a lot of issues for us and it’s making it very difficult for us to do what we do which is looking after 2,300 miles of canals and rivers all across England and Wales um and we also look after the heritage and history that they hold the wildlife as well as the community’s wellbeing as a whole as well um which is why it’s so important for us to maintain our canals but we are fighting for our funding back by making members of the trust um which include monthly donations um as well as taking oneoff donations as well um you can do this on our website or on the toe parts as well if you like brilliant all right thank you