Our drawing of the route, over road and path data from OpenStreetMap. It shows where the walk goes and what it goes through. It is not a survey and not a navigation aid — carry OS Explorer on the hill.
Eight and a half miles and about four and a half hours along the Dales Way terrace above Wharfedale to the rock knuckle of Conistone Pie, then down the narrow limestone slot of Conistone Dib, which needs a short scramble on polished rock, and back by the river past Ghaistrill's Strid. Start at the National Park Centre in Grassington, where the car park is large and the 72 bus from Skipton pulls in alongside. Lea Green is unfenced ancient pasture full of sheep and the riverside meadows are grazed too, so keep the dog on the lead; the Wharfe gives a good drink and a safe paddle at Ghaistrill's Strid, though the Strid itself is deep and fast and no place for a swim, and the wall crossings on Lea Green are narrow stone squeeze stiles that a broad dog will not get through, while the Dib needs a dog that can be lifted down a short polished-rock scramble.
A small independent coffee house in the middle of Grassington doing breakfasts, proper hot drinks and cakes. Listed by the regional tourist board as a dog-friendly cafe, so dogs may come in with you rather than waiting outside. A useful first stop before the walk down to the river.
One of the largest broadleaved woodlands in the Dales, an ash wood on limestone terraces a mile up the lane from Grassington. Dogs are welcome but must be on a lead throughout this Yorkshire Wildlife Trust reserve, which shelters rare woodland flowers. Public footpaths and a well-surfaced access track, though steep and rocky in places and slippery when wet.
Five and a half miles and about three hours on the waymarked lead mining trail above the village, mostly on firm stone tracks with a boggy dip or two, past the Cupola smelt mill chimney, Beevers engine shaft and the little Coalgrovebeck reservoir. Walk up Moor Lane from Grassington National Park Centre rather than driving to Yarnbury, where the parking is a handful of spaces at a road end and blocks the farm turning when it overflows. This is a working grouse moor with sheep on it, so the dog stays on the lead the whole way and especially between March and July; the real hazard is the mining ground itself, with capped and uncapped shafts, open flues and steep-sided reservoirs a few feet off the path, and the only water is the beck below the smelt mill.
One short email when we add places or a council changes its beach rules. No noise, easy out.
NO SPAM · UNSUBSCRIBE ANY TIME · WE NEVER SELL THE LIST
Wagfinder Members · Coming soon
NO PAYMENT NOW · FIRST IN WHEN DOORS OPEN · EASY OUT