Mendip Marauder

The Mendip Way has to be one of the South-West's best-kept secrets. Like the Cotswolds' slightly more streetwise, alternative cousin, the Mendip Way features the spectacular Ebbor and Cheddar Gorges, the brutal climb up to Crook's Peak, incredible views over the Somerset Levels and to the circular Cheddar Reservoir, and then England's smallest city, Wells, with its magnificent cathedral.Starting at the Market Town of Frome (for the whole of the Mendip Way) or from Wells (for the West Mendip Way only) you will run through a real smorgasbord of Somerset scenery. If you like hills then you will find plenty to enjoy here, but either way, you will be amply rewarded for climbing the hills with views to breathe life into tired legs and then a downhill cruise to help get your strength back. Some particularly scenic parts of the course are Cranmore Tower (the highest point on the whole route), the amazing panoramic views from Wavering Down, the quarries, and forests of Black Rock Nature Reserve, Ebbor Gorge and the lush pine forests of Rowberrow, but this route is absolutely jam-packed with stunning locations.