Dog-friendly Harrogate & Nidderdale

A famously narrow multi-storey ale house on Knaresborough market place, in the Good Beer Guide for more than thirty consecutive years. It describes itself as a cosy, dog-friendly pub, with a clean water bowl and doggy treats kept on the bar and no objection to a dog on the stairs.

An all-day bar and kitchen in a converted bank on Market Place South, serving coffee from breakfast through to cocktails at night. Visit Ripon lists it as dog friendly, and the deep sofas suit a dog that has already done its miles.

A micro-brewery and taproom on Kings Road pouring its own beer alongside Asian street food. The brewery states plainly that it is dog friendly, and dogs are as welcome inside the taproom as they are on the heated outdoor terrace, so the weather need not decide where you sit.

Harrogate's oldest pub, a Victorian time capsule with working gas lighting and a nationally listed historic interior on CAMRA's inventory. Dogs are welcome throughout on a lead, and the snug Vaults room with its log burner is a fine spot to dry off a damp spaniel.

A proper Blossomgate local with good beer, a real fire, a pool table and a garden, and a warm welcome that extends to dogs. Visit Ripon carries it on the city's dog-friendly list.

A first-floor craft beer and sourdough pizza bar hidden up The Ginnel, and one of the most reliably dog-friendly rooms in central Harrogate. Dogs settle under the long communal tables while their owners work through the keg list, and nobody minds a damp coat.

Scandinavian cafe on Oxford Street famed for cinnamon buns, skillingsboller and open sandwiches. Dogs are welcome inside and out during the daytime and staff make a genuine fuss of them; a civilised alternative to the town's no-dogs tearooms.

A street-food style cafe in Ripon Spa Gardens serving all-day breakfast and light bites among the bandstand and borders. It is properly set up for dogs, with its own dog menu, treats and water bowls, and tables outside on the grass.

A small independent cafe on Queen Street just off the market square, doing fresh, unfussy food and a hearty welcome. Visit Ripon lists it as dog friendly, so your dog can come in out of the rain with you.

A small High Street cafe built around an extraordinary range of hot chocolates, with cakes to match. It is dog friendly, which is worth knowing because a good number of Pateley's shops are not, and it sits halfway up the hill for a breather.

Stylish speciality coffee shop and brunch spot on Royal Parade with a London feel and locally sourced menus. Dogs are welcomed inside with water bowls and treats; it is compact and popular, so booking and mentioning the dog is sensible.

An independent North Street cafe known for robust coffee and loose-leaf tea, with cakes made on the premises. Visit Ripon lists it among the city's dog-friendly places and dogs are welcome inside.

Six miles round both of the great head-of-dale reservoirs, crossing the Scar House dam, running west along the shore track to the older Angram dam and returning on rough moorland paths on the north side, with steep pulls, several stiles and boggy ground after rain. Start from Yorkshire Water's free car park by the Scar House dam, reached on the private toll-free road up from Lofthouse; there are toilets and picnic tables at the car park and the DalesBus 821 reaches Lofthouse on summer Sundays. Sheep graze the whole valley and curlew and golden plover nest on the moor, so dogs are on the lead throughout and should not drink from or swim in either reservoir.

Two miles each way of fully surfaced, traffic-free path along the Nidd from High Bridge in Knaresborough out to Bilton Hall Drive, resurfaced in 2013 and effectively flat, which makes it one of the few routes in the district that stays clean and firm right through winter. Start at High Bridge on the Ripon Road below the town, five minutes from Knaresborough station, and at the far end it links straight into Bilton Lane and the Nidderdale Greenway for a longer day. Named after the Yorkshire cycling champion, it is shared with bikes and horses and passes fields of grazing horses and a couple of cattle grids, so keep dogs on the lead and close in; the surface is kind on old joints and takes a buggy or wheelchair without complaint.

Four miles and about two hours from the top of the Valley Gardens out through Cardale Woods to the gritstone outcrop of Birk Crag, returning down the wooded ravine of Oak Beck, with roughly 100 metres of climbing on rooty woodland paths that hold mud through the winter. Start from the Harlow Carr end of Valley Gardens or the roadside parking on Cornwall Road; the 6 and 24 buses both put you within a few minutes' walk. The woods are the best off-lead ground within walking distance of Harrogate town centre and Oak Beck gives a clean drink, but the crag itself drops away suddenly, so call a dog back well before the top.

Just over three miles and an hour and a half of riverside and pasture between Birstwith and the old Otter Bridge, with 110 metres of gentle up and down and a few field gates; the low ground gets sticky after a wet week. Start by the church in Birstwith where there is limited roadside parking, or catch the 24 bus from Harrogate to the village end. The Nidd here is shallow and gravelly and makes a fine swim for a dog that likes water, but the meadows are grazed and cut for hay, so leads on through the fields and give the riverside anglers room.

Nearly nine miles and about three and a half hours of almost level walking, only 50 metres of climb in the whole day, out across the flat country between the village and Ripon, into the Market Place by the obelisk and back along the canal and the Littlethorpe lanes. Start by the beck in Bishop Monkton where the ford and footbridge sit in the middle of the village, with roadside parking and the 36 bus corridor a short hop away at Bishop Monkton Lane end. Field paths make up most of the route and cattle are common in the pastures near the Ure, so keep dogs on the lead through the farmland and along the towpath, where the canal is deep and steep-sided.

Under three miles and a little over an hour on level ground beside the River Ure and the Milby Cut, with only about 20 metres of rise and firm towpath and riverside path most of the way, which keeps it usable when the field walks have turned to mud. Start on Boroughbridge High Street, where there is free parking in St James Square and the market cross, and the town sits a mile from junction 48 of the A1(M). The lock and weir at Milby run fast and deep and there are moored boats along the cut, so keep dogs on the lead by the water; the riverside pasture is grazed in summer.

A well-kept club site on Bar Lane between Boroughbridge and Roecliffe, within walking distance of the town and the River Ure. Pets are welcome and the site has its own designated dog walk, along with a shop and accessible facilities. A practical base for the Ouseburn villages and the lanes towards Aldborough.

A quiet holiday park on Studley Road, set beside the River Laver on the Fountains Abbey side of the city. Well-behaved dogs are welcome, and the Ripon Rowel footpath runs close by for morning walks straight from the pitch.

Self-catering lodges with hot tubs on River View Road, tucked into the Ure valley just north of Ripon. Visit Ripon carries them on its dog-friendly list, which makes them a straightforward base for exploring Fountains Abbey and lower Nidderdale with a dog.

A large park on Ure Bank Top with the River Ure below it and the cathedral city a walk away across the bridge. Visit Ripon lists it among the area's dog-friendly places to stay, and the riverbank paths are on the doorstep.

A family-run park at Studfold Farm above Lofthouse, with camping, caravan pitches, glamping pods and its own waymarked trails through the woods. Dogs are welcome on the camping area and in one designated dog-friendly pod, on a lead around the site and never left alone in a pod.

Coaching inn on the cobbles of the Ripley Castle estate, in a village that is dog friendly almost by charter. Select courtyard rooms come with dog beds, bowls, a bone in a basket and treats for twenty pounds per dog per night, and dogs are welcome in the bar and snug; call before booking as dog rooms are limited.

The National Trust's surreal 320-million-year-old gritstone tors scattered across open moorland above Summerbridge, with miles of sandy paths weaving between balancing rocks and heather. Dogs are welcome everywhere on site, including the moorland, but must stay on a short lead throughout to protect ground-nesting curlew and the cattle that graze May to October. Parking charge for non-members; kiosk refreshments near the visitor centre.

England's largest monastic ruin and the Georgian water garden beside it, a World Heritage Site four miles from Ripon. Dogs on short leads are welcome in all the outdoor spaces, from the abbey nave to the moon ponds and the deer park, and even in the visitor centre restaurant; water bowls and dog bins are dotted around the estate. Only Fountains Hall, Porters Lodge, the Studley tearoom and the play area are off limits.

Dramatic 80-foot limestone ravine near Lofthouse in upper Nidderdale, carved by How Stean Beck and explored on walkways, footbridges and caves. Dogs under control are welcome on site and in the glass-floored cafe cantilevered over the drop, though they cannot join the via ferrata and gorge activities. Clear up after your dog and mind the sheer edges.

England's oldest visitor attraction, open since 1630: the prophetess's cave and the eerie Petrifying Well, reached by a riverside beech avenue with postcard views of Knaresborough viaduct. Dogs on leads are welcome in all areas of the park apart from the adventure playground and the museum and gift shop, and there are dog-friendly ice cream and pupaccino stations en route. Dogs are not admitted during the Christmas event.

Narrowboat trips aboard the Pride of Ripon from the canal basin at Bondgate Green, running down the Ripon Canal towards the Ure. Dogs are welcome aboard, and there is free parking at the basin so you can walk the towpath afterwards.

The ruined fortified manor of the Percy family, standing free to enter at the edge of Spofforth village. English Heritage welcomes dogs on leads across the site, and it makes a good ten-minute detour on a walk in from the old railway line.