EXCLUSIVEIs the Lake 地区's Hardknott Pass too dangerous to 運動? Travel writer SIMON HEPTINSTALL 述べるs the joys of 取り組むing the extreme road - as some call for cars to 避ける it altogether

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Tight hairpin bends lead to a terrifyingly 法外な gradient. 崩壊するing tarmac seems to 後部 up like a 高潮，津波 in 前線 of you.

A stream of rainwater splashes 負かす／撃墜する the middle of the road like a mountain stream.

Last time I 取り組むd the road, I reached the steepest bit, reached 負かす／撃墜する to change gear but 設立する I was already in first. That was when a nonchalant sheep strolled out in 前線 of me.

On a 雨の day it seems incredible that Hardknott Pass in England's Lake 地区 is 公式に 分類するd as a normal public road. It is so 法外な and difficult that drivers are often 警告するd to take enormous detours that can 二塁打 the distance and 追加する an hour to the 旅行.

Now some are calling for drivers to 避ける the road altogether.

The hairpins of the east 直面する of Hardknott Pass, a road that can take drivers by surprise?

The 学校／設ける of 前進するd 運転者s (IAM) is telling road 使用者s: 'It has 法外な gradients and is 選び出す／独身-跡をつける road, so depending on the rider o r driver's experience it could be one to 避ける. We don't recommend putting yourself in danger.'

IAM spokeswoman Heather Butcher says: 'You can read reviews online from さまざまな sources 確認するing it's a challenging road, a thrill etc but we would advise all riders and drivers to approach roads like this with 警告を与える.'

Even Cumbria Police say that 'people shouldn't 捜し出す out the road to challenge themselves'.

'We put guests off from coming over Hardknott Pass,' says 地元の 多重の holiday home-owner Greg Poole and even Gill Haigh, MD of Cumbria 観光旅行，事業, 警告するs: 'We'd advise anyone to check the 天候 before setting off, 同様に as taking into account the time of year, as the high points can get 背信の.'

One 最近の Tripadvisor reviewer who innocently drove up the pass with her family 報告（する）／憶測d she 'thought we were all going to die'. Her ten-year-old son asked for his inhaler 予定 to a panic attack. 'Do yourself a favour and walk instead,' she wrote.

The west 直面する of Hardknott Pass, which has gradients of up to 33 per cent.?The 学校／設ける of 前進するd 運転者s is telling road 使用者s: 'It has 法外な gradients and is 選び出す／独身 跡をつける road, so depending on the rider or driver's experience it could be one to 避ける. We don't recommend putting yourself in danger'

At the same time as all these worries, the 悪名高い 大勝する has become something of a 目印. Some consider it is a rare example of old-school road that should be celebrated.

Hardknott is a short stretch in very 山地の 地形 just behind England's highest 頂点（に達する）, Scafell Pike, and our deepest lake, Wastwater.

Colourful owner of nearby Muncaster 城, Peter 霜-Pennington, 運動s 経由で Hardknott 定期的に and calls it 'one of the most exciting and incredible roads to 運動, cycle or walk in the whole world', 追加するing: 'It should be on everyone's bucket 名簿（に載せる）／表（にあげる）.'

And Lakes holiday home-owner Greg Poole may 警告する his visiting guests to take a different 大勝する ? but chooses to take Hardknott himself. 'I love the 運動,' he says. 'It's exciting, challenging, beautiful, いつかs scary but never boring - you won't 落ちる asleep at the wheel for sure.'

This 素晴らしい picture shows the 見解（をとる） west from Hardknott Pass に向かって the village of Eskdale

The problem for Hardknott is that na?ve tourists 始める，決める off from the genteel atmosphere of Ambleside's tearooms for a pretty 運動 西方のs. Often they 長，率いる straight into Hardknott ? one of Europe's most challenging stretches of road, with a sequence of one-in-three hairpins.

What is Hardknott Pass really like to 運動?

The road approaching Hardknott rises gently at first from a small lake. 調印するs 警告する drivers: '狭くする road. 厳しい bends.' By then it's too late. There's no 代案／選択肢 大勝する.

The road soon becomes a sequence of ridiculous hairpins the width of a bridleway, with a 絶えず 崩壊するing surface and unguarded 減少（する）s of hundreds of feet.

Hardknott's hardest section is いっそう少なく than a couple of miles but rises 1,037ft (316m) with a 25 per cent gradient. The final scary section is a breathtaking 33 per cent. The 'unsuitable for caravans' 調印する と一緒に seems a humorous understatement.

These gradients are steeper than most Alpine passes and 越える the famous mountain 行う／開催する／段階s of the 小旅行する de フラン cycling race.

A few エリート cyclists manage to 規模 the pass. Mailonline Travel Editor Ted Thornhill bravely 試みる／企てるd the pass on two wheels last summer and 報告（する）／憶測d how he was 軍隊d to get off and 押し進める his bike at several points.

Wild road: One 最近の Tripadvisor reviewer who innocently drove up the pass with her family 報告（する）／憶測d she 'thought we were all going to die'

A Eurosport 文書の in 2019 followed a cyclist on a strict six-week training 政権 to 準備する for 取り組むing Hardknott. At the end, 推定では to the programme-製造者s' horror, he still failed to make it up the pass.

My own experience of Hardknott was as a car 乗客 with a 最高の-確信して 軍の team 長，率いるing to climb Scafell Pike. Unaware of the 危険，危なくするs of the pass, we 攻撃する，衝突する the hairpins まっただ中に 激流s of rain in the 早期に hours. The officer 運動ing struggled as the wheels 繰り返して （期間が）わたる and the engine 叫び声をあげるd.

まっただ中に a 津波 of special-軍隊 断言する words we made it up, but the driver stayed in the car to 回復する while we 規模d the 頂点（に達する） and afterwards he took the longer 大勝する 支援する.

My second visit was descending ? with a 実業家 in his new Jaguar. I'd 警告するd about the Hardknott 降下／家系 but he thought his gleaming Jag would easily 対処する with a little Cumbrian slope.

Mailonline Travel Editor Ted Thornhill (above) bravely 試みる／企てるd the pass on two wheels last summer?

Within seconds of cresting the brim of the pass however he discovered a style of road he had never 遭遇（する）d before. His wide 高級な リムジン was 完全に 不適切な.

He pulled の上に the rocky 瀬戸際 to 回復する breath. Red-直面するd and silent, he proceeded to the foot of the hill at 選び出す／独身-人物／姿／数字 miles per hour.

Finally, I 始める，決める out to 取り組む Hardknott both 負かす／撃墜する and up in my own car.

Yes, at times it feels like you may 倒れる over backwards but if your car is 100 per cent, the 天候 罰金 and you get your revs and gearchanges 権利, it's all rather fun.

For drivers in this age of health and safety, smart motorways and self-運動ing cars, Hardknott seems a flashback to the time when you had to concentrate as if your life depended on it (it does).

The reward for all that frantic steering and gear-changing is 接近 to a mountain landscape of wild beauty. Waterfalls, sheer 激しく揺する 直面するs and 見解（をとる）s must be the same as they were for the Romans who first built the road.

Cliffs 急に上がる into the clouds either 味方する of Hardknott while hardy mountain sheep wander confidently across the road. They don't worry about 'traffic'. To them it must seem that the cars are the 部外者s.

Devon Moods: Landscape Photography 奮起させるd by Devon, with pictures by Gary Holpin and words by Simon Heptinstall, is out now and 利用できる through アマゾン, 定価つきの £15.99.?

Devon Moods: Landscape Photography 奮起させるd by Devon, with pictures by Gary Holpin and words by Simon Heptinstall, is out now and 利用できる through アマゾン, 定価つきの £15.99?