Dales Way - Dent to Burneside (★★★★☆)

The Dales Way is a path I have stumbled upon while doing walks near Ribblehead - and I have previous used a small part of it on a walk from Dent to Horton-in-Ribblesdale. One of the interesting parts of this walk is that it does not just head through the one National Park (the Yorkshire Dales), but at its western end also ventures out of the Dales and into the Lake District.

My plan is to walk the western end of the Dales Way over two days - heading from Ribblehead to Burneside near Kendal on the first day, and then on to Windermere on the second.

And so today I am heading out by train, and soon found myself heading up the Settle-Carlisle railway - and just after we head over the Ribblehead Viaduct, and just as everyone on the train is fully captivated by the views, I get to proudly get up and head off the train at Dent train station.

The views coming into Dent station are superb, and it's one of the few train stops in the country where everyone will be envious of you as you get off and head out for the day. But that said, maybe I am envious of them, as they continue to head up along this pretty train line.

There's not many of us getting off, and from here we are not on the Dales Way itself - and must head down the hill in order to officially join up with that trail.

Heading down the hill from Dent station (apologies about the clouds)

Further down the hill

The view here is hard to capture in a photo, as what you mostly feel is the scale of the hills sat around you, but I have done my beset to get photos that capture some of this.

From here we eventually get down the hill, and enter the village of Cowgill. Although the train station is called Dent station, it is near the village of Cowgill, while Dent is actually the next village we are walking towards (and is some miles away).

This section of path is one I have done before, and so on this visit I am prepared for the wet foliage under foot as I head along a fairly rough track following the River Dee.

On my way along this section I bump into a walker hiking the full trail in the opposite direction, and so we have a bit of a chat about the navigational challenges, as well as a bit of a chat about the local area.

With those pleasantries completed, I head on and my path winds on through Dent Dale to pass by Dent itself - heading across the road at Church Bridge, before then taking in the village across the fields as you walk past.

Dent Village

With Dent village now behind me, the path takes on a very similar feel to my walks along the Cumbrian Way - and in fact the two walks feel very similar. Both make use of the flatter ground through the valleys where possible, and provide an attractive journey that isn't about ticking off every single hill in sight. Instead we amble along and try to enjoy the hills as we look up at them on our way by.

Continuing along close by the river side, we eventually hit a point where the path pulls up towards a very minor road as we head past Combe Scar.

Combe Scar

Here the road is effectively a massive puddle, and I am pretty excited about this - because I will get the chance to test out the credentials of my new shoes, which I hope will be waterproof.

And in fact the shoes do prove to be waterproof - hurrah! And so I can just splash through the puddles rather than copy the walker in front, who has been rather unsuccessfully trying to use the equally as wet grass verges to stay away from the puddles.

At Brackensgill, it is time of head over the river and partly up onto the ridge on the far side of the river - with plenty more splashing to be done, as I walk up what admittedly is a path, but could equally be called a mountain stream.

The view from the other side

Further up the other side

Here the views are very pretty and having made it half way up the ridge, it is time to head along it - before the onward path will head round and down into Sedbergh.

But as I reach the turning point on the ridge, ahead of my descent down into Sedbergh, I realise that this spot here is probably my best bet for a spot of lunch. And so I enjoy my lunch looking out over the hills before heading off, ready to drop into Sedbergh - which turns out to be a very pretty town backed by some fairly impressive hills.

Ready to descend into Sedbergh

To the north of Sedbergh we have the Howgill Fells (the onward route of the Dales High Way), to the east you have the slightly more distant Baugh Fell, and in the south-east you can just about see Whernside (over in Ribblehead) from the right part of Sedbergh.

On my way through town, the houses and gardens are all very nicely done - although I fear I may have offended one householder by over admiring his neighbors more substantial floral display on my way by. 

Then on the way out of Sedbergh we find the Pepperpot, which is a recently restored summerhouse - which formerly sat within the gardens of the Akay estate - and which is a rather sweet little landmark to pass by.

Pepperpot

As is typical on this trail, we are soon back along side a river, and on the way out of Sedbergh we are following the River Rawthey, which soon collects up the contents of the River Dee.

Re-united with the River Dee as it empties into the River Rawthey

A final look at Howgill Fells on the way out of town

But it is not long until we once again hit another point of interest, as we pass the former route of the Ingleton Branch Line - which holds a key role in the history of the Settle-Carlisle Railway.

Rawthay Bridge on the dismantled Ingleton Branch Line

In the older days of the railways there was much competition over certain routes, and one of the more sought after routes were the routes from London to Scotland.

For Midland Railway, this Ingleton branch line offered an alternate route to the current west coast mainline (operated by London and North Western Railway), but it was blocked by London and North Western Railway.

In the end Midland Railway accepted defeat and obtained a bill to construct the Settle-Carlisle railway, but in another dramatic twist and turn, a deal was done to allow Midland to use this branch line for their London-Scotland route. By then, however, they were committed to building the Settle-Carlisle railway and so that line which brought me to these hills was built.

But for this line, the construction of that railway was effectively bad news and effectively put this line on borrowed time - when it was decided that it was not economic to retain both this and the Settle-Carlisle, this line was closed down.

The three major viaducts along the line (more on one of those later) and this bridge are Grade II listed however, and should remain even though the trains are unlikely to return.

We will meet up with this line again later in the day, but for now our path cuts up towards a section along a fairly busy road (with some sort of pavement initially, then nothing, and then some sort of pavement towards the far end of this section).

From here we cut off through the fields, and back up against the flow of the River Lune (which is itself heading down to Lancaster, picking up the River Rawthay on the way).

Through the Fields

This section heads through the fields, before once again rejoining the dismantled railway at the rather impressive Waterside Viaduct (one of those three viaducts).

Waterside Viaduct

Heading northwards, and up through a series of fields on our way to join up with both the M6 and the west coast mainline there is perhaps on the surface not much to enjoy coming up, but those familiar with either route will know how pretty this section of rail and road is heading through the Lune Gorge.

I think this is Howgill Fells

Here the countryside is lovely and I don't even mind the dual hindrance of the motorway and railway. Indeed, the only minor complication of this section is the need to cross over the M6 - and this is done via a bridge crossing that upon my arrival was blocked off by a large group of cows. But these are friendly cows and they are not fussed at all as I head through their group and onto the bridge.

From here there are more fields to pass through as I head through the no-mans land that exists between the Dales and Lakes (with Borrowdale lying to the north).

I think these are Lake District hills, although they look very similar to Dales hills

From here we cross over the west-coast mainline (don't worry there is a bridge), and wind on through the fields to Patton Bridge, after which we join up with a minor road heading west.

First sight of Kendal

Having crossed the A6, I'm glad to have cleared this stretch with decent light, as much of what remains to Burneside will be done via footpaths, and this is a relief because being late September I'm starting to push against the length of the day.

But it is not long before I find myself heading down into Burneside with a little bit of light to spare - and here I will take the train to Kendal to stop over for the night.

Click for the onward walk from Burneside to Bowness-on-Windermere (and then up along the far side of Windermere to Ambleside).

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 97 and 98 OS Landranger maps - while there is also a Dales Way guidebook which includes OS mapping (links redirect to Amazon). The route is in general well way-marked.