Dog-friendly Askwith

The old Askwith Arms on West Lane, which closed in 2022 and reopened in 2024 as The Penny Bun, the village inn of the Denton Reserve estate across the valley. Its own FAQ is unusually clear about dogs: well-behaved dogs are welcome in the snugs, the bar and the terrace areas, and it asks you to say when you book that you are bringing one so they can seat you somewhere sensible. Dogs are not allowed in the five bedrooms, which is stated in the same breath and saves a wasted booking. The terrace and conservatory look straight across Wharfedale to Ilkley Moor, and Askwith Moor Road climbs from the village to the open moor, so it works well as the end of a walk.

Askwith sits under the moor and the moor is the reason to come. The gritted parking area on Askwith Moor Road is the standard start: from it you walk north along the lane, then turn east through the heather past the lip of an old quarry onto Snowden Moor, where a cairnfield and a scatter of carved rocks sit above Snowden Crags looking south over Wharfedale to Otley Chevin. This is registered open country and Natural England records no local dog restriction over it, so within the standard access rules a dog may be on the open moor here. It is keepered grouse moor with sheep on it, and the going is heather, peat groughs and hidden boulders rather than path, so it is slow work even though the climb is small.