has anybody gone over kirkston pass with a caravan,because its such a drag going all the way up to junction 40 on the m6 if your trying to get to the campsite sykeside
Tell me you're joking or you've been drinking!!! LOL
I wouldnt say it couldnt be done, but its a single track road and at times busy with very steep hills and acute bends. If you have ever been along that road you would know that taking a caravan along there is a non starter. Forget it, take the long road or if its a pain find a different site.
I did the A684 from Leyburn to J37 on the M6 , nightmare road , i thought a A road couldn't be that bad , so when i saw another caravan ( although a fair bit shorter than mine ) take the road i thought i'd go for it , after about 4 miles it turned off , so there i was , i thought just keep going the road can't really be that bad can't , well it was , very tight turns up and down steep hills ( the likes of i've never seen before ) , very narrow in lots of places , small narrow hump back bridges . Luckly it was sunday morning , we made it to the M6 phew ! , i'll never be taking that road again . I've been over the Kirkstone pass ( not towing ), it's not as bad as the A684 but i still wouldn't recommend it , play it safe and go the long way .
I did it once, (accidentally, I add, as the Wife was map-reading!), years ago from North to South with a Mk 1 Cortina GT and a 12ft Sprite Alpine, plus a hill start half way up when I caught up with a VW Beetle, but I wouldn't recommend it.
I reckon you could do it fairly easy with a small 2 berth van, but only very early morning with little traffic about. We have done it with a trailer in a holiday season and there was a few motorhomes up there but we had to stop and pull in to let them by. Its the throughs that stick out of the Limestone walls that could be the killers. Like big can openers or should I say van openers!
I took my caravan over it just a couple of weeks ago, was letting a friend use caravan for the week but i was towing it there for him. He told me it was just off motorway about 20 miles and he had directions from campsite so didn't bother to check really as campsite should know youv'e got a van and wont send you anywhere difficult. Anyway over it no problem and actually contimplated coming home the same way but went m6. I tow a bailey pangent provance with Vax Frontera and climbed over it with ease until i caught up with dottery old driver in front who slowed me down that much i came to a standstill but apart from that no real worries met 2 motorhomes coming other way. The campsite was white rose in windemere when i mentioned to them about the directions on thier web site they said so check the map yourself good start.
Had at least two friends who regularly visit Sykeside with caravans via Kirkstone, they say they have no problems. Maybe they haven't met one of the Shearing's tourist buses!! Nothing is as bad as the final section of the A830 into Arisaig which is single track for five miles!!!
I did the Whinlatter Pass towing a Dandy once. Nearly burnt out the clutch. It was only when i got to the other end that i noticed the "unsuitable for caravans" sign at the end. Thought I was getting some funny looks Never again!
Cheers Kim
------------- I was going to change the world...but then I was distracted by something shiny. 😊
I'm chasing the rainbow 😎
drove that road once (thats the A592??) was a nightmare withouta van but a '89 proton 1.3 with no power steering and over 100k on clock. £ big lads plus tools in it. was bloody hard graft. was cream crackered by the time we got to southwaite.
Amazing family weekend with old steam engines, classic car displays, market stalls, and full catering and bar. And camping on site - Save £25 by booking in advance.
Topic: kirkston pass cumbria
![[8D]](https://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/chatter/forum_images/smiley36.gif)
