Sunderland City Council

Sunderland City Council
Civic Centre
Burdon Road
Sunderland
SR2 7DN

Tel. (0191) 520 5555

Calls may be recorded for quality and training purposes

Cycling in Sunderland - Two Rivers Cycleway

This 10 mile, £1m cycleway is virtually all off-road and is well-signed, linking Sunderland to South Shields (the River Wear to River Tyne) along the beautiful North Sea coast.

Riverside sculpture trail

From Sunderland City Centre, either side of the Wear Bridge may be followed, leading to Bonnersfield. From Pann Lane on the west, crossings either side of the bridge may be used before continuing east along the river. Alternatively from Bedford Street an underpass leads to the east side of the bridge. Once on the north side of the bridge the cycleway hugs the river edge to the North Sea, linking directly to the National Glass Centre, award-winning sculptures and the Marine Activities Centre.

The old north pier marks the end of the 135 mile Coast to Coast (C2C) cycleway from Whitehaven. The Two Rivers Cycleway continues north to join the cliff top and heads towards South Shields. Roker and Seaburn have renowned sandy beaches as well as B&B and Hotel accommodation.

	The route hugs the coastline from Sunderland to South Shields
From Whitburn, the cycleway links to the Souter Lighthouse and Marsden Rock before descending down to South Shields beaches. The route then leads to the town centre and the Shields Ferry, which in turn links to a number of cycleways, including the Reivers Route (to Kielder Forest and Whitehaven), west along the River Tyne to Newcastle, and northwards into Northumberland.

Route mileage from Sunderland City Centre (one way):

South Shields 10 miles;
Stephenson Railway Museum (via North Shields) 13 miles;
Big Waters Nature Reserve (Wideopen) 23 miles;
Ponteland 27 miles;
Bellingham 60 miles - fairly flat (popular first night destination on Reivers);
Newcastle City Centre 20 miles (via South Shields and River Tyne)

More leisure cycling routes

last updated 15/11/07

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Cycling in Sunderland - Two Rivers Cycleway