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Walking in the Yorkshire Dales: North and East
Howgills, Mallerstang, Swaledale, Wensleydale, Coverdale and Nidderdale
Walking in the Yorkshire Dales: North and East
Howgills, Mallerstang, Swaledale, Wensleydale, Coverdale and Nidderdale
This guidebook contains 43 circular day walks in the north and east Yorkshire Dales. It explores the dales, hills and moors between Kirkby Stephen and Pateley Bridge. Walking ranges from gentle 3 mile strolls to more strenuous day-long rambles across the Howgills, Wensleydale, Swaledale, Nidderdale, Mallerstang and Coverdale.Explore the wild beauty of the northern and eastern Yorkshire Dales, where sweeping limestone valleys, heather moorland and distinctive fell landscapes create some of the most rewarding walking in northern England. From the quiet slopes of the Howgill Fells to the historic valleys of Swaledale, Wensleydale and Nidderdale, this varied region of the Yorkshire Dales offers scenic day walks through traditional countryside shaped by farming, geology and centuries of rural life.
This Cicerone guidebook, written by experienced husband-and-wife duo Jan and Dennis Kelsall, is the perfect companion for discovering the best walking in the northern and eastern Yorkshire Dales. Featuring 43 circular day walks between Kirkby Stephen and Pateley Bridge, the guide explores the landscapes of the Howgills, Mallerstang, Swaledale, Wensleydale, Coverdale and Nidderdale with routes suitable for a wide range of walkers.
- The guidebook describes 43 circular walks across the northern and eastern Yorkshire Dales, allowing you to explore the distinctive landscapes of the Howgill Fells, Mallerstang valley, Swaledale, Wensleydale, Coverdale and Nidderdale
- Walks range from 5 to 19km (3–12 miles), offering everything from gentle countryside strolls to longer fell walks across open moorland and rugged upland terrain, with routes suitable for a wide range of walkers
- Each route is circular and easily accessible from key Dales locations such as Sedbergh, Kirkby Stephen, Aysgarth and Pateley Bridge, making it simple to plan rewarding day walks across the region
- Clear step-by-step route descriptions are supported by 1:50,000 OS mapping, helping you navigate the valleys, hills and moorland paths of the Yorkshire Dales with confidence
- Practical information on parking and refreshments helps you organise your day in the Dales, while background notes introduce the area’s rich geology, wildlife, history and traditional landscapes
With carefully selected routes, clear mapping and valuable local insights, this guidebook provides everything you need to explore the northern and eastern Yorkshire Dales on foot. Follow quiet valley paths, climb panoramic fell tops and discover the timeless landscapes that make the Yorkshire Dales one of Britain’s most loved walking destinations.
Complete your collection with the companion guide Walking in the Yorkshire Dales: South and West, available separately.
Yorkshire Dales: North and East - Quick Facts
Guidebook name: Walking in the Yorkshire Dales: North and East
Location: Northern and eastern areas of the Yorkshire Dales, North Yorkshire and Cumbria, England, UK
Area type: National park upland landscape of valleys, fells and moorland
Routes included: 43 circular day walks
Distance range: ~5–19 km / 3–12 miles per walk
Typical duration: Half-day to full-day walks
Main areas covered: Howgill Fells, Mallerstang, Swaledale, Wensleydale, Coverdale, Nidderdale
Key starting points: Sedbergh, Kirkby Stephen, Aysgarth, Hawes, Pateley Bridge
Navigation: Some waymarking; Step-by-step route descriptions with 1:50,000 OS mapping
Terrain: Limestone valleys, fell paths, moorland tracks, riverside paths and upland trails
Difficulty: Easy to moderate, with some longer fell walks
Best season: Spring to autumn (Apr–Oct), though many routes are possible year-round in good conditions
Highlights: Howgill Fells panoramas, Swaledale villages, Wensleydale waterfalls, historic Dales landscapes
Author Highlight
“The Yorkshire Dales is like nowhere else in England, a place of intrinsic and striking beauty that owes its scenic qualities both to nature and to man. Bestriding the central Pennines, that broad range of hills erupting along the middle of the country, and known to generations of schoolchildren as the ‘backbone of England’, the Dales boasts a diversity of landscape and character that is hard to beat.”
- Jan Kelsall, one of the authors of Walking in the Yorkshire Dales: North and East
Printed book
A guidebook with detailed route descriptions, stage breakdowns, accommodation listings, profiles and maps - everything you need on the trail.
ISBN
9781852847982
Availability
Published
Reprinted
22 Mar 2022
Published
17 Apr 2015
Edition
Second
Pages
256
Size
17.20 x 11.60 x 1.45cm
Weight
300g
eBook
The complete digital edition of the guidebook, with full route descriptions, accommodation listings, profiles and maps, ready to use on any device. To access your eBook, you will need an eReader app. For more details, visit the eBook FAQs.
Map key
Overview map
Introduction
The Dales Landscape
Geological History
?Human Settlement ?
Industry and Enterprise ?
Farming in the Dales ?
Plants and Wildlife ?
The Northern and Eastern Dales ?
The Yorkshire Dales National Park ?
Navigation and Maps
?Careful Planning ?
Clothing and Footwear ?
Food and Drink ?
Taking your Car ?
Leaving your Car Behind ?
Using this Guide
1 The Howgill Fells
1 Sedbergh and the River Rawthey ?
2 The Rivers Rawthey and Lune from Sedbergh ?
3 Winder, Calders and the Calf
?4 Carlin Gill and Fell Head from Fairmile Gate ?
5 The River Rawthey from the Cross Keys Inn ?
6 Cautley Crag and the Calf
?7 Around Wandale Hill ?
8 Baugh Fell from Rawthey Bridge
?9 Grisedale ??
2 Mallerstang ?
10 High Seat ?
11 Pendragon Castle and Little Fell ?
12 Wild Boar Fell and Swarth Fell ??
3 Swaledale and Arkengarthdale ?
13 Apedale and Harkerside Moor ?
14 Grinton and Maiden Castle ?
15 Fremington Edge ?
16 Slei Gill ?
17 Whaw to Dale Head ?
18 Old Gang and Surrender ?
19 Beside the River Swale from Gunnerside
?20 Gunnerside Gill ?
21 Ivelet Bridge from Muker ?
22 Great Shunner Fell and Lovely Seat from Thwaite ?
23 Muker, Thwaite and Kisdon Force from Keld ?
24 Whitsundale and the Head of the River Swale ??
4 Wensleydale and Coverdale ?
25 A Walk in Coverdale ?
26 West Witton and the River Ure to Redmire Force ?
27 Aysgarth to West Burton ?
28 Aysgarth Falls
?29 Ivy Scar from Aysgarth ?
30 Whitfield Gill Force and Mill Gill Falls ?
31 By the River Ure from Bainbridge ?
32 Bainbridge to Semer Water ?
33 Aysgill Force ?
34 Dodd Fell Hill and Drumaldrace ?
35 Cotterdale ?
36 Great Shunner Fell from Hardraw ?
37 The High Way ??
5 Nidderdale ?
38 Brimham Rocks ?
39 Ashfold Side
?40 Middlesmoor and How Stean Gorge ?
41 Nidderdale ?
42 Little Whernside
??Appendix 1 Route summaries and suggestions for longer routes ?
Appendix 2 Where to find out more ?
Seasons
Year round walking in the Yorkshire Dales, but be properly kitted out on the tops in winter.
Centres
Hawes, Sedbergh, Kirkby Lonsdale, Aysgarth, Reeth, Kirkby Stephen, Pateley Bridge
Difficulty
From gentle three-mile walks to more strenuous day-long walks and suggestions for longer routes, not technically demanding but you should be able to use a map and compass
Must See
The Howgills, Wild Boar Fell, Cautley Crag, Brimham Rocks, Nidderdale
September 2020
Walk 25 detour
Walk 25: Coverdale
The foot bridge spanning the River Cover to cross from Hindlethwaite Hall Farm to reach Horsehouse is closed and is not due to reopen until February 2021.
You can reach the nearest bridged crossing by continuing through the fields to Arkleside and joining the lane back over the bridge to Horsehouse, adding around 2km to the walk (see map below)
W25 Coverdale Detour to avoid damaged bridge (6.979 MB)
July 2020
2020 reprint updates
798 Reprint 2020 (973.368 KB)
January 2020
Walk 38 – The High Way – Amendment of final 2 paragraphs
page 216
Make your way through successive enclosures across the slope of the hill, heading for buildings set in a nest of trees, marked as 'Low West End' on the map. Through a final gate a track winds down towards the farm.
After the first building, turn off right at a footpath sign to go between West End Farm House and the adjacent ruin. After crossing Lockshaw Gill, turn immediately left through a gate and head away by the right-hand wall. Beyond a fence stile bear left to a track, your outward route. Follow it left back to How Beck Bridge and keep left again back to the road at Shaw Paddock.
June 2017
Route updates and corrections
Walk 31 -
Revised route description for passing the farm before crossing the river: "Guided by a sign to Middle Borwins, swing between the abutments of a dismantled bridge and then go right across the top of a field following the waymarks through a large gate into a paddock. Reaching the lean-to at the top end, bear left into a small enclosure and go through a small gate on the left down to a line of stepping stones across the river."
Walk 32 - Revised route description: “… eventually passing below a large house at Hill Top to reach a junction of tracks.
Carry on straight ahead for twenty metres to a kissing gate onto the lane, where you should turn left.
At the end by Old Cams House …”
The paragraph beginning “Guided by a sign” should be ignored.
Please note the route shown on the map for this walk is incorrect. The route line should continue directly from the disused railway line onto the track at SD 915 904, rather than passing through the farm at SD 914 903.
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