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Malham · 4 checked

Dog-friendly walks in Malham

Boots on. These are the Malham walks worth the drive, with lead rules and livestock warnings marked.

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880 YD © OpenStreetMap contributors 5 MI · LOOP
DOGS WELCOME

Malham Cove, Gordale Scar and Janet's Foss Circuit

Malham · BD23 4DG
No reviews yet
5MILES
3:00TIME
250mCLIMB
90%OFF-ROAD
Livestock — leads on

The classic Dales circuit: roughly five miles from Malham village via the wooded ravine to Janet's Foss waterfall, into the towering gorge of Gordale Scar, then over limestone pasture to the 80-metre curved cliff of Malham Cove. Dogs may go off lead in places but sheep graze almost the whole route, so close control or a lead is essential, and there are rocky steps and clints on the cove top. Start from the National Park car park; the village pubs welcome muddy paws afterwards.

VERIFIED 29 JUL 2026 VIEW WALK ›
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SOME LIMITS

Malham Tarn circuit

Malham · BD24 9PT
No reviews yet
4.5MILES
2:10TIME
90mCLIMB
75%OFF-ROAD
Livestock — leads on

A four-and-a-half-mile circuit of England's highest marl lake, two hours on estate tracks, a stretch of quiet moorland road and grass paths, with almost no climbing at 375 metres above the sea. Park at the National Trust car park at Water Sinks on the Malham to Arncliffe road; Malham village and its toilets and tea rooms are three miles south. The Trust asks for dogs on leads and bars them entirely from the boardwalk through the National Nature Reserve at the east end, so plan to walk the road section instead; sheep and cattle graze the upland farm land, and the tarn shore gives easy shallow access for a drink.

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SOME LIMITS

Malham, Hanlith and Airton by the River Aire

Malham · BD23 4DA
No reviews yet
5.6MILES
2:45TIME
150mCLIMB
75%OFF-ROAD
Livestock — leads on

Five and a half miles and around two and three quarter hours, flat and gentle by Malhamdale standards: the Pennine Way south past Aire Head springs to Hanlith, a riverside mile to Airton, then quiet lanes and field paths back through Kirkby Malham. Park at the Malham National Park Centre and walk out of the village southwards; the 210 from Skipton stops in Malham, Airton and Kirkby Malham, so the loop can be cut short at any of them. The Aire is shallow, clean and reachable at half a dozen points, which makes this the best drinking and paddling walk in the dale, but every riverside field is grazed and there are cattle with calves below Hanlith, so the lead stays on; the stiles are mostly wooden steps over walls and are manageable, though two squeeze stiles near Hanlith Hall are tight for a broad-chested dog.

VERIFIED 29 JUL 2026 VIEW WALK ›
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SOME LIMITS

Pikedaw Hill and Nappa Cross from Malham

Malham · BD23 4DA
No reviews yet
5.5MILES
3:00TIME
300mCLIMB
90%OFF-ROAD
Livestock — leads on

Five and a half miles and about three hours on the quiet side of Malham, climbing the walled Long Lane onto Pikedaw Hill for the calamine mine ruins and the medieval boundary stone at Nappa Cross, with a squelchy stretch of moor between the two after rain. It starts from the National Park Centre car park in Malham, which is far and away the best place to leave a car in the dale and has the only public toilets for miles. Sheep are on the hill all year and there is no fence between path and flock, so keep the dog on the lead; the compensation for a dog owner is that this route uses gates and stone stepped stiles rather than the squeeze stiles that make the Cove path such a struggle with a big dog, though there is no water at all once you leave the village.

VERIFIED 29 JUL 2026 VIEW WALK ›

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