Yorkshire Dales

OVERVIEW

The Yorkshire Dales are one of England's greatest National Parks - and whilst being a fairly rocky landscape, it's a landscape that never feels unnecessarily wild.

And this means that you get very easy access to landscapes that are of exceptional quality - and often without having to do all that much walking.

At the same time a lot of the walking is done along well made tracks - with there rarely being much downside to taking the lower route through a valley, instead of a more challenging route over the top of the hills.

The Dales themselves are large, with numerous areas of interest:

Map of Yorkshire Dales, Source: Yorkshire Dales NP

But what makes the National Park stand out is often it's geology - with a mix of gritstone and limestone creating both impressive hill and rockscapes - as well as interesting limestone formations and cliffs.

The most notable rock formation is the Great Scar Limestone Group, and this gives the Dales a lot of it's unique character:

The geology of the southern end of the Dales, Source: Fossil Hub

But it is this in conjunction with gritstone that creates such varied scenery:

Geology of the Dales, ie lots of limestone and gritstone, Source: Dales Rocks

In between all this rock you do of course have the Dales (the valleys) themselves - of which Swaledale is probably the most beautiful.

The walking routes are very good in the Dales - and it is not only easy to explore, but there are almost an infinite set of routes that can be used - and this makes it ideal as an area for you to return to.

Parts of the Dales are very popular with tourists - but once you get away from the main tourist traps, the Dales are surprisingly quiet and empty, and so there is no need to worry about the crowds.

GETTING ABOUT

The easiest way to access the National Park is via the Carlisle-Settle railway - and there is train access below the National Park from towns such as Gargrave and Skipton, as well as through the park from stations such as Settle, Ribblehead, Dent and Garsdale. To the north of the park there is access via Kirkby Stephen and Appleby-in-Westmorland.

Beyond this very useful train route, public transport is not necessarily the Yorkshire Dales greatest attribute - but there are bus services that run from the major towns that surround the National Park.

The bus network, Source: Dales Bus

Skipton has particularly good bus services - and that makes anywhere around Skipton quite a good base for exploring the Dales. Other useful access points are Settle, Ilkley, Ripon, Northallerton and Richmond - with Richmond being accessed by bus from Darlington, and Ripon most easily from York.

Services do also run directly from York - but it can be quicker to use a mix of train and bus here. For instance you could catch a bus from York to Grassington, but you can leave the house later if you take the train to Ilkley and meet up with the same bus there.

Whilst the National Park complains a lot about traffic and car usage, the information and investment in the public transport network is not as good as for instance the Lake District - but with a bit of time and effort you can work it all out. 

Because the network itself is fairly weak it is often easiest to do a hybrid of different transport options - and for instance to explore Swaledale, your best option is probably to drive to Reeth and then take the bus on to Keld (before walking back).

Hopefully the day will come where the public transport network improves - and here even the train route could be more regular given it's popularity.

NOTABLE WALKING ROUTES 

The Yorkshire Dales is full of walking route - and the general quality of footpaths is very high. This makes casual exploring pretty good, but the major routes are still a great way of exploring the area, and finding new places worthy of your time. These (and other notable walks) are detailed below:

A Pennine Journey - Named Trail

At the moment I have no plans to walk this, as A Pennine Journey often overlaps with other trails, or includes some slightly questionable bits of walking (by this I mean muddy and not that interesting) - but the section through the Dales looks like it is worth doing (as it covers different areas to the other trails) - so this may change at some point.

Coast to Coast - National Trail

The Coast to Coast trail runs across England through the Lake District, Yorkshire Dales, and North Yorkshire Moors. 

The section through the Dales looks to be very good, but I will add more information here once I have actually walked it.

That said this is a trail that focuses on the northern end of the Dales - whilst other trails are more concentrated at the southern end of the Dales.

Dales High Way - Named Trail

The Dales High Way takes a dramatic, and often challenging route across the Yorkshire Dales - with the section climbing up Ingleborough overlapping with the Yorkshire Three Peaks. 

This is a tough trail to do in one walk - but it covers a lot of very good ground - and being a trail focused on taking the higher routes, it has some lovely views.

This trail focuses on the southern and western ends of the Dales - and ticks off a lot of dramatic landscapes - including the often overlooked Howgill Fells.

What also makes the trail particularly useful is the fact that it follows the route of the Carlisle-Settle railway - which makes it easy to complete this trail in shorter stages.

Dales Way - Named Trail

Despite the name the Dales Way is not entirely walked within the Dales, and has a western section that extends into the Lake District.

But it is an excellent low effort way of exploring the Yorkshire Dales, along routes that tend to stick to river valleys, rather than climbing hills.

This trail cuts through the middle of the Dales - and whilst it avoids the more dramatic landscapes to the south, it is a very enjoyable trail for walkers.

Logistically it is also a good starting point for exploring the Lakes as it has an easy access point at Dent train station, an easy stopping point near Kendal, and with Grassington being easily reached by bus from Ilkley.

Pennine Bridleway - National Trail

The Pennine Bridleway is primarily an equestrian trail - but it also takes a very pretty route across some very pretty countryside - and so is well worth walking. 

The trail is very focused on the western end of the Dales - but the northern section of the trail introduces you to countryside that not a lot of people get out to visit. 

And it is a very pretty route down into the Dales, with the core section through the Dales passing through the pretty countryside around Ribblehead.

Pennine Way - National Trail

The Pennine Way is probably the toughest of the National Trails, but it is also a pretty incredible walk - and it offers up some exceptional walking as it passes through the Yorkshire Dales. 

The Yorkshire Dales section of the Pennine Way is best viewed as running from Gargrave up to Hawes - passing Malham Cove, Fountains Fell, Pen-y-Ghent and Swaledale along the way.

But in general the Pennine Way simply cuts straight through the Dales from south to north (or north to south).

Yorkshire Three Peaks

The Yorkshire Three Peaks is a very challenging route that takes on the ascents of Ingleborough, Pen-y-Ghent, and Whernside - across a route that whilst not particularly long (24 miles), does include 5,200 feet of ascent (which is well beyond a normal walk). 

At the moment I haven't got this down as a planned route, but when I get round to planning it, it will be.

It is often taken on as a challenging walk - but it is also worth bearing in mind that it is a very pretty one as well. That said, it is probably best to wait until you are good shape before walking this trail, as otherwise you do risk doing a bit of harm to yourself physically.