Yorkshire Dales Voyage Tips and guide

The Yorkshire Dales are a scenic area of limestone hills and valleys in North Yorkshire in the north of England. Much of the area falls within the Yorkshire Dales National Park, which extends into neighbouring Cumbria and Lancashire.

A "dale" simply means a valley, so it's a very common component of a place-name, in Yorkshire and elsewhere. The Dales described here are those in the Pennines, north of Skipton and south of Kirkby Stephen, and the hills between. Their terrain is exposed limestone or karst country, scenically sculpted by glaciation and by water action. Similar terrain and scenery is found at the southern end of the Pennines, the Peak District, while the area between is overlain by tough millstone and looks quite different: bleak, boggy and infertile.

Rivers course down the dales, mostly flowing east, but Ribblesdale and Lonsdale flow south then west to the Irish Sea. As each river leaves the limestone hills, it comes into gentler rolling country then low plains, pastoral and bucolic. Names such as "Wharfedale" and "Nidderdale" are often extended to these broad valleys and meander plains, especially by estate agents, but they don't have classic Dales scenery. They're only considered on this page to the extent that they have transport routes and amenities relevant to visitors to the Dales.

The area is at low altitude by European mountain standards, and is fertile, with cattle farming on the lower ground and sheep on the hills. In Norman times monasteries were established, notably at Bolton Priory and Fountains Abbey, that controlled much of this land and promoted agriculture. Later centuries saw the building of castles such as Castle Bolton and hunting lodges such as Barden Tower. The Industrial era brought lead and coal mining, quarrying, and the construction of roads and railways. This, plus new housing, was economically necessary but potentially ruinous to the area's natural beauty, so in 1954 the Yorkshire Dales National Park was created. Nidderdale wasn't included, but was separately protected in 1994 by designation as an "Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty" (AONB). In 2016 the National Park was considerably extended westwards, almost to the M6, so it now includes Lonsdale.

The park borders upon several other protected areas: Nidderdale AONB as mentioned to the southeast, Lake District National Park to the west, Forest of Bowland AONB to the southwest, and North Pennines AONB to the north. So a huge tract of northern England is now within a joined-up protected habitat where development is tightly controlled. So what about "re-wilding", re-introducing bears, wolves, and other atavistic beasts? No, this area is not a wilderness, nor was it ever in historic times. Farming, rural industry and population are as integral to the landscape, and to what needs to be preserved, as any a wind-swept moor or crag. So too is recreational use, which has a 200-year tradition. Still habitat reconstruction is valuable, and water voles and hazel dormice have been re-introduced.

There are no park fees or road tolls in any of these areas. The usual charges apply for parking, campsites, and admission to attractions. Permits are required (as in the rest of the UK) for fishing, shooting and hunting. Fishing licences are available at Post Offices.

As with the rest of the UK, October–March can be wet, cold (−5°C–15°C) and windy, and June–August can be warm and sunny (18°C–28°C). But you need to be prepared for wind and rain even in mid-summer.

Visitor information is available online, see individual towns for physical or online local information.

54°12′0″N 2°9′0″W

Map of Yorkshire Dales

The principal dales are Wharfedale, Wensleydale, Swaledale, Nidderdale, Ribblesdale, Airedale and Lonsdale, each with a distinct character. Many smaller dales feed into these. This account only considers the "dale-like" upper reaches, working upstream as this is the likeliest approach for the visitor.

Wharfedale is very accessible from Leeds and Bradford so it's busy on summer weekends. B6160 is its main road.

• 53.925-1.8221 Ilkley is a former spa town with moors looming above it. "On Ilka Moor baht at" is the Yorkshire ballad describing the perils of going up there hatless.
• 53.9825-1.8872222 Bolton Abbey is a village with a ruined priory. The Strid is a torrent where the River Wharfe rips between rocks.
• 54.071-1.9983 Grassington is a large village. Kilnsey Crag is an overhanging bluff with climbing routes.
• 54.191389-2.0905394 Buckden is near the head of the valley. Roads climb the moors beyond into Wensleydale.

Wensleydale is named for the village of Wensley (source of Wensleydale cheese), not for its river the Ure. A684 is the main road.

• 54.293636-1.9822225 Aysgarth has a scenic waterfall.
• 54.304144-2.1964196 Hawes has several waterfalls, the largest is Hardrow Force. The road traverses the moor to Garsdale and the Lune Valley.

Swaledale starts above Richmond. B6270 ascends through Reeth, Gunnerside, Thwaite and Keld. Swaledale sheep come from here.

• 54.405-2.1687 Keld is at the head of the valley, then the road crosses into Cumbria.

Nidderdale is not within the national park, but is similarly protected.

• 54.08-1.768 Pateley Bridge is the only large village. Brimham Rocks are a scenic outcrop of the gritstone bedrock. A lane climbs over the moors north then zags east back to the lowlands at Masham.

Ribblesdale together with Airedale forms the "Aire Gap" through the Pennines, a historically important low-level route. It's traversed by railway lines and main roads with buses, so it's very accessible. These roads are also the route from the Yorkshire cities to the Lake District, so they're congested on summer weekends.

• 54.068-2.289 Settle is the start of attractive karstic scenery.
• 54.149719-2.296110 Horton-in-Ribblesdale is beneath the brooding "Three Peaks" of Whernside, Ingleborough and Pen-y-Ghent. It's classic country for hiking, caving and pot-holing, and Ribbleshead railway viaduct spans the valley.

Airedale the east side of the Gap is traversed by the Leeds-Liverpool canal.

• 53.962-2.01711 Skipton is a pleasant market town with a castle.
• 54.06-2.1512 Malham has the outstanding scenery of Malham Cove and Gordale Scar.

Lonsdale in Cumbria became part of the Park when this was extended westwards in 2016. Much of it has millstone bedrock, but karst scenery is found in the northern reaches.

• 54.2-2.613 Kirkby Lonsdale is the main town, along the busy Leeds-Kendal road.
• 54.1201-2.3894214 Clapham beneath Ingleborough has the Gaping Gill cave system.
• 54.322-2.52615 Sedbergh is in the side valley of River Rawthey.

• Leeds-Bradford Airport (LBA ^IATA) is the closest, with good connections across western Europe, including London Heathrow, Paris CDG and Amsterdam.
• Newcastle Airport (NCL ^IATA) has similar flights to Leeds-Bradford but less frequent. Consider it if you're mainly touring the northern Dales, then into Cumbria, County Durham and Hadrian's Wall.
• Manchester Airport (MAN ^IATA) is further but has global connections and competitive fares. Follow the motorway north, and you can reach the Dales in a couple of hours.

• Leeds has frequent trains from London, Manchester, the Midlands, Newcastle and Edinburgh.

From Leeds a train every couple of hours runs up Ribblesdale via Skipton, Gargrave, Settle, Horton, Ribbleshead, Dent, Garsdale, Kirkby Stephen and Appleby to Carlisle.

Frequent trains run from Leeds and Bradford to Ilkley and to Skipton, for buses onward to Grassington and Buckden in Wharfedale.

• Harrogate, reached by train via Leeds or York, has buses up Nidderdale as far as Pateley Bridge.
• Oxenholme near Kendal is on the line from Preston via Lancaster to Carlisle.

Buses ply along A65 between Skipton, Gargrave, Settle, Clapham and Kirkby Lonsdale. They run from Clitheroe to Settle and Horton-in-Ribblesdale. They run from Skipton to Grassington: in summer these may start from Wetherby, York or Leeds, and continue to Buckden and Horton. They run from Harrogate to Pateley Bridge, and from Richmond to Reeth, Gunnerside, Muker, Thwaite and Keld.

See individual towns for details.

You probably need a vehicle, the distances, gradients and weather are challenging for bicycles. Buses are infrequent and confined to radial routes from the larger towns.

• Rocks: the most obviously scenic are karstic areas. Millstone often produces a featureless level terrain, but here and there it forms teetering outcrops. The exposed rock is cracked by ice vertically and horizontally, so it looks like giants' architecture, or their stacked crockery. Good examples are the Cow and Calf at Ilkeley, and Brimham Rocks near Pateley Bridge.
• Waterfalls: scores of these, as the Pennines have year-round rainfall. Streams and nascent rivers pick their way across impervious millstone plateaux then thunder over the edge. Best known are High Force above Middleton and Hardraw Force above Hawes; Malham Cove in prehistory rivalled Niagara but is now dry. In limestone terrain the streams cut gullies and cascades rather than falls, but at Gaping Gill above Clapham the stream hurtles into a deep yawning cavern.
• Castles hereabouts are sternly defensive; Skipton has the best. Down in the lowlands milady grumbled and harped on until milord built a suitably luxurious new mansion-palace, leaving the old castle as a picturesque ruin.

• Walk as far or as little as you like. As with other areas of natural beauty, anything within ten minutes of the car park may feel like a suburban picnic spot, but anything beyond suddenly propels you miles from anywhere. Several long-distance trails cross the area:

- Pennine Way from the south crosses A65 at Gargrave, follows the Aire Valley north to Malham and onto the limestone tops - this section around Malham Tarn is the most scenic of the entire path - then veers west over Pen-y-Ghent to Horton-in-Ribblesdale. From there it's practically straight north to Hawes. North again, the route leaves the Park at Tan Hill to head into the North Pennines and Teesdale.

- Dales Way runs the length of Wharfedale past Bolton Abbey to Grassington, Kettlewell and Hibberholme, into Langstrothdale and over into Cumbria.

• Climb hills: none here rate as mountains. Whernside at 736 m is the highest, and with Pen-y-Ghent (694 m) and Ingleborough (723 m) comprises the "Three Peaks". Climb them from Hawes, Horton, Clapham or Ingleton.

• Caves: the karstic hills are riddled with caves but most require technical skills, such as the Gaping Gill system. Ingleborough is a show cave near Clapham.

• Wensleydale Railway is hauled by heritage diesels from Leyburn.

If you're self-catering, stock up at the supermarkets near the larger towns further out, such as Skipton or Harrogate. And consider re-filling the tank.

The Dales villages have small craft shops and giftware. For staples there's usually a convenience chain store such as Coop Food.

The best dining is usually in the village pub-hotels. It's not just trad fare, the chefs are often keen to show off their European nous to city slicker visitors, and veggies and GF are well catered for.

Larger villages will have a trattoria and an Indian, and all but the smallest have a fish & chips takeaway.

Water from the tap is pleasant to drink, as it comes from upland sources and needs minimal treatment beyond keeping the enuretic sheep away from the reservoirs. Most of it however is "hard", with high mineral content from its limestone catchment. A few sources are even stronger, and Harrogate and Ilkley were spa resorts in the 18th / 19th century. Frankly you were better suffering from the diseases these purported to cure than having "hydropathic" remedies applied to every possible orifice.

Beer is the traditional Yorkshire drink. Mainstream beers and pub chains are found everywhere, and several villages have their own craft brewery.

Decent European wine is widely available, and English viniculture has even reached Leeds, but climate change has not yet replaced Swaledale sheep with Shiraz. Only a matter of time. The 1990s saw an epidemic of micro-distilleries, mostly producing gin, but these were most viable near major conurbations and didn't gain a foothold in the Dales.

Overall bed capacity is small, and the Park intends to keep it that way. You need to book ahead, because places may be either booked out for summer or closed for winter.

There are campsites throughout the Dales, often on farms. In winter and early spring camping is cold, wet, windswept and flood-prone, and "glamping pods" and yurts are a cosier option.

The few hostels may be block-booked by groups, for instance for schools activities.

B&B guesthouses are dotted about, and are of a good standard. In most villages the best accommodation is the pub, which is often a historic stagecoach inn and also has the best dining. These may be managed by pub companies such as Greene King or Marston but retain their independent character. Hotel chains such as Premier Inn are further away, say in Skipton, not in Dales scenery but within a short drive.

The hills are of no great height, but bad weather can set in at any time, with poor visibility and slippery rocks.

There are a couple of show caves, but the rest are cave systems for experience cavers only.

There's little crime in the Dales except theft from cars so keep valuables hidden.

• Leeds the largest city in Yorkshire is easily accessible.
• York retains its walls around a historic centre.
• North York Moors are another upland park 50 miles east.
• Lake District National Park to the north west is very touristy.