Dovedale to Milldale and Viator's Bridge

The most photographed limestone dale in England, with the stepping stones a few minutes upstream of the pay-and-display car park at Thorpe. The stones are flat-topped but spaced and go slick after rain, so most dogs are happier wading the shallow Dove alongside them, and you can stay on the Thorpe bank and not cross at all. The National Trust asks for short leads throughout, as there are sheep, lambs and cattle in the fields; from Ilam there is an alternative route that avoids the cows and the stiles and takes ten minutes longer.

Three and a half miles and around two hours, flat along the river then a steep 130-metre pull up the grass cone of Thorpe Cloud for the view down the dale. The National Trust car park at Dovedale is the start, £4.50 for four hours and £6 all day, free to members, open 9am to 7.30pm and full by half past nine every summer weekend. Dogs can cross the stepping stones but the tops are worn smooth, uneven and slippery when wet, and most dogs are happier wading the ankle-deep shallows beside them; leads are required all year here because of grazing stock and the Dovedale National Nature Reserve, and there are water bowls and dog bins in the car park.