Yorkshire
Dales
Walks
Click this link to jump straight
to the overall Walks
table or for walks specific to the main Dales, see:
If you are looking for walks, all
of which appear on just one map, see this Kindle Book
20
Walks in the Yorkshire Dales with One Map - OL2
There are
some beautiful walking routes in the Yorkshire Dales National
Park. This National Park was established in 1954, and covers an area of 1,762 square kilometres
(680 square miles) in the north of England, straddling the central Pennines,
in the counties of North Yorkshire and Cumbria. It has a landscape of
drystone walls and limestone outcrops which as far as I know is not
replicated anywhere else.
Various
long distance walks pass through the Yorkshire Dales, not least The
DalesWay.
Different
dales have their own characters some being ‘U’ shaped and some ‘V’
shaped.
Most of the
dales in the Yorkshire Dales are named after their river or stream (e.g.
"Arkengarthdale", formed by Arkle Beck or "Wharfedale",
after the River Wharfe). The best-known exception to this rule
(and the subject of regular quiz questions) is Wensleydale, which is named
after the town of Wensley, rather than the River Ure which runs through it.
Because of
the limestone that runs throughout the Yorkshire Dales, there are extensive cave
systems present across the area, making it one of the major areas for caving
in the UK. The most famous surface stretch of limestone is probably the limestone
pavement at Malham, with its “clints” (the limestone blocks) and
“grikes” (the fissures between). There are tremendous views from the top
of the cove.
Two of my walks takes in this pavement; Gordale Scar and Malham Cove and
Bordley to Malham Cove.
The Dales
contain the famous “Three Peaks” - Ingleborough, Pen-y-Ghent and Whernside,
which represent an acknowledged 24.5 mile challenge walk, to be
completed in under 12 hours. It starts at Horton-in-Ribblesdale, where you clock
in at the café to get your badge.
If you are
looking for Yorkshire Dales walks to access by public transport, click on the
"ticket" symbol in the table below.Although many of the walks have been
accessed by car and some of the starting points themselves might not be
close to reliable public transport, most walks are circular and some do pass
close by public transport at some point. The walks can be picked up at that
point.
There
are numerous dales but the three main, best known ones are Swaledale,
Wensleydale and Wharfedale. The walks which start from these dales can be extracted by clicking on the following
links. For all areas, see the table
below:
Yorkshire
Dales Reading List
Or
scroll
down to see all the Yorkshire Dales walks.
If
you need to buy any hiking equipment/clothing before your trip see the Hiking
Store
All information on this
site is given in good faith and no liability is accepted in respect of any
damage, loss or injury which might result from acting on it.
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