Yorkshire Dales - Dent to Horton-in-Ribblesdale (via Ribblehead Viaduct) (★★★★★)

Earlier in the year I was walking a section of the Pennine Way, and the second of two days of walking took me from Gargrave to Horton-in-Ribblesdale. This was a walk I really enjoyed and I have since been looking at walks in the area - and have focused in on the Dales Wale and the Dales High Way when looking at future trails to explore.

Today I would be doing a bit of a composite walk, starting from Dent train station and walking the Dales Way to the edge of Dent village, where I will turn onto the Dales High Way to Ribblehead Viaduct. From here I would then take the Yorkshire Three Peaks route up Pen-y-Ghent, before turning back and following the Pennine Way route to Horton-in-Ribblesdale.

To start my walk I head off the train at Dent train station - the highest operational mainline train station in England - but despite all the promise of starting at such a high point, the reality is that my first task is to head down the hill, and give up all this precious height.

The view coming down the hill

The Settle-Carlisle train line is one of the prettiest of the train routes through England, and this is a prime route for the posh train journeys with a fancy meal - but for us common folk, we are good to use it just as freely while traveling out on a normal train. For walkers, it offers a convenient set of walks for anyone with easy access to either Leeds or Carlisle, and as I got off the train they were even doing a bit of a guided tour for everyone on the train over the speakers.

Having made it down the hill from Dent station, we turn left and over the river, and join up with the Dales Way for the first time. Despite having come from Dent station, the village here is Cowgill - and confusingly enough we will be following the Dales Way to just shy of Dent village - which lies about 2 miles to the west.

But having got over the river, the next task is to follow the slightly overgrown path along the Dales Way along the base of the valley.

Looking out across the valley

This first part of the days walk out along the Dales Way takes a winding route that at times can be a little tricky to follow - and mostly you just have to just follow the depression in the foliage, supported by regular checks of the map.

But aside from meeting a few barky dogs that are keen to say hello slash assert their dominance (they settled for giving me a few licks in the end), this section is a pleasant enough meander through fields and alongside farms and houses, following the route of the valley.

But we are not on this route for long, and when the Dales Way drops down to cross over the river, I stick on the road continuing along - pausing to wait for a herd of sheep to cross the road into their new field - before being waved on by the farmer.

From here I turn left and start to climb up, as I turn away from Dent village - and start walking along the Dales High Way (a route that largely takes in the same span of countryside as the Dales Way, but opting for the generally higher route over the hills, rather than the generally lower route through the valleys).

This begins a long climb that will take me up to Great Wold - passing only slightly below the two peaks at Whernside - with the high point at Whernside being the high point of the Yorkshire Dales at 736 meters.

Fortunately it is a long and steady climb up, with nice views back across the valleys behind.

Looking out to the right

Looking behind

As the climb continues on, there are a number of frightened sheep to navigate past, who all give me a good sniff once they realise that I am not dangerous - and then as the path gains height, the landscape starts to shift away from the green and pleasant land of the valleys, into the slightly bleaker and rougher terrain of the hills.

Looking out towards what I think is Dent Viaduct

Aside from this small patch of green it is a bleaker landscape

At this point we have climbed up over three hundred meters - and if you did want to branch off to climb up Whernside and reach the high point of the Dales - then that would "only" require about two hundred more meters of climb, by turning off to the right. This offers quite a cheap climb up to the highest point of the Yorkshire Dales, but not one I'll be using today.

Along this particular stretch of countryside there are loads of different routes - and loads of different combinations that are very easy to connect up to each other. And so this isn't a bad area to come back to without just repeating the same old walks - allowing for numerous walks between stops along the train line, without ever getting bored.

But this particular diversion up Whernside,would add more time than I really have to spare - there is a train to catch home after all - and so my route now continues along the now flat section of the Dales High Way.

After this flatter section, the path starts to drop down towards Ribblehead Viaduct - and here you start to get the dual views out towards Pen-y-Ghent in the distance in addition to the views of Whernside to the right hand side.

Whernside to the right (bit late to turn off now)

Pen-y-Ghent in the distance

By this point I have joined up with the Yorkshire Three Peaks route - which uses a track to head up to Whernside, heading off from the path I am following down the hill. The Yorkshire Three Peaks has a favored direction - which reduces the technical challenge of some of the peaks - and here I am walking against the main flow of traffic. And so whilst I have only passed one other hiker in the three hours or so of walking up to this point - I am now passing herds of walkers at regular intervals.

The Yorkshire Three Peaks is an interesting walk, in that it is quite a challenging route that would commonly only be taken on by people who spend all their weekends in the hills - and normally when you are on these sorts of routes you don't see a lot of people unless there is a car park nearby.

But the Yorkshire Three Peaks is very popular and it is often taken on as a challenge by those who are less used to this sort of activity. As I pass some walkers heading up the first part of the climb up to Whernside, it is obvious that some walkers are on their limit already - and this is worth flagging as there have been a few deaths on this route in recent years - mostly due from cardiac episodes. Many of these have occurred on the next section of the climb up to Whernside.

Across the full day I saw more broken, injured and struggling walkers than I have probably seen in the last few years and it is important for people not to underestimate what they are taking on. My personal advice to those looking to complete the route would be to start with a section of the route first and do sections of the route until you are ready to take on the whole things. It probably isn't a route you just do out the blue without otherwise doing lots of comparable activity.

But returning to my walk, by this point on my walk I have made it down to the valley, and here I spend a bit of time following the path of the railway line.

Looking at the hills across from the railway line

The path pulls to the left and the continues on away from the railway line

After following along the tracks for a while - and watching two trains pass through - the path pulls left, and this is the signal that we have reached Ribblehead Viaduct.

Ribblehead Viaduct from the Northern end

Ribblehead Viaduct from the Southern end

This is a section to be enjoyed as it is an impressive structure, but upon reaching the far side, the onward path largely comes to a halt - and so I continue on, following a road that is reasonably busy with traffic - but with some sort of verge for about half of the distance. On this stretch you just have to be slightly careful at the crests in the road, as you don't want to be going against the traffic on these - and you'll have a few cars or motorbikes travelling at speed along this section, so best to be careful.

But before too long, the onward route shifts to a track running off to the left - and this begins a section following a farm track round to Nether Lodge.

Crossing a stream on the way to Nether Lodge

You can essentially say that the climb up Pen-y-Ghent really starts with this track as it first starts to edge up - and there is about four hundred meters of total ascent to tick off between the road and the top of Pen-y-Ghent - so it is best to settle in here for the long haul.

Continuing on towards Pen-y-Ghent, there is good signage for the Yorkshire Three Peaks route - which is helpful because I don't actually know which route is the Three Peaks route or which route would be the best to use to cut across the Pen-y-Ghent. My plan on this section was just to follow whichever route seemed smartest once I got here as it wasn't super clear on the map which route was best - and generally I find this to be the smartest thing to do where you aren't sure.

But now I'm here, it is obvious that the best route will just be to walk against the Yorkshire Three Peaks route all the way up Pen-y-Ghent as this is well waymarked and on good paths - and that route follows a track out from near Dismal Hill, then heads south on the branch of the Pennine Way that connects up with Hawes.

Having followed this section of the Pennine Way for a bit, there is then a very clear turn off to the left that uses a track heading past Cross Pot and Hull Pot to join with the other branch of the Pennine Way (this time heading towards Malham). 

Now the climb up to Pen-y-Ghent begins in earnest - and it must be said that this is a fabulous stretch of path that keeps taking you up at a very gradual pace - and never pushing you too hard.

The path snaking up to the top of Pen-y-Ghent (it wiggles left and then right along the ridge)

As you get a bit nearer to the top, the climb starts to ramp up a bit in terms of steepness, but with the first proper views now opening up behind.

Looking back along the path

Reaching the southern end of Pen-y-Ghent side

Then there is a final kick up to what I assume are limestone cliffs at the top (I think these are Pen-y-Ghent side) - but whilst in many ways this feels a bit like the top, it is not. Here the path turns to the right and there is still about 130 more meters of ascent to go before the summit of Pen-y-Ghent is reached.

Still another hill to go after turning to the right

But there is still no major ramp up in the gradient of the path - and instead it winds up along the edge of the ridge - and after a first section following the slope of the hill, the path starts to hug the edge of the ridge more - but with it remaining a wide path, and with the ridge not being too sharp a drop off to the side.

Generally I'm not a huge fan of ridges or drops and get vertigo if there is a big drop to the side, but this section has none of those issues. Instead it just has great views.

But after this stretch along the edge of the ridge, the cruelest part of the climb comes, with a series of large steps that require good legs to get up (fortunately all is good for me today, and these prove to not be too difficult to tick off - but I would hate to do this stretch on bad legs).

However, with the million steps complete, we find ourselves at the top of Pen-y-Ghent - and at just a few meters shy of 700 meters above sea level.

Here there are two routes on, the first is to continue along the path - but this route involves quite a steep section that is a scramble when done either as an ascent or descent. I'm told the descent is not too bad if you know where you are going, but not having done the ascent I decide to rule this route out, as it is quite a sharp drop off the side of the ridge and it is not particularly clear from above where the path actually goes through this section.

The onward path on the other side

So instead I head back up and over Pen-y-Ghent once more, and go back to the much gentler path - which also ensures that I pick up a missing section of the Pennine Way, running all the way round from here to Horton-in-Ribblesdale over Pen-y-Ghent. Last time I came here I had walked from Gargrave the night before and opted to take the more direct route into Horton-in-Ribblesdale rather than come over Pen-y-Ghent as otherwise it was going to be a little tight to catch the train home.

Having gone back over Pen-y-Ghent, this means heading down the path I had come up on - which was very easily done thanks to the pretty gradual slope of the path - and then following the Pennine Way round as it heads down and into Horton-in-Ribblesdale.

I'm not sure if this is Tarn Bar or part of Horton Scar

Following the Pennine Way down into Horton-in-Ribblesdale

This is a nice stretch of path and drops you nicely into the centre of Horton-in-Ribblesdale, where it was a short walk to the train station - ready to catch the train home.

UPDATE - A writeup has been added for a walk on the Dales Way on towards Burneside (near Kendal), before continuing on to Winderemere on the following day.

Enjoyment Rating : ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ / 5

Disclaimer: This writeup provides a narrative of what to expect rather than a route guide to follow. The route is covered by the 98 OS Landranger map (links redirect to Amazon). You definitely need a map to navigate this one (if using a phone download in advance as there is no signal in the hills).