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.
Nine and a half miles and about four and three quarter hours on the green lanes of upper Ribblesdale, using the Pennine Bridleway north to Selside and the Ribble Way back past High and Low Birkwith; the tracks are firm but the linking field paths hold water well into summer. Start from the Horton-in-Ribblesdale car park, or arrive by train - Horton station is on the Settle to Carlisle line and the walk begins at the level crossing. These are working farms with sheep in every field so the lead is not optional, and Alum Pot deserves particular care - it is an enormous open shaft inside a walled enclosure that a loose dog can walk straight into; the Ribble gives easy drinking and a shallow paddle near Birkwith, and most of the route is gated rather than stiled, though two stepped wall stiles near Selside are awkward for a heavy dog.
Three and a half miles there and back in under two hours, up the walled green lane of Horton Scar Lane on the Pennine Way to Hull Pot, the largest natural hole in England at 300 feet long and 60 feet deep. The track is stony but broad and gently graded, and it stays walkable when Pen-y-ghent is in cloud; start from the National Park pay-and-display car park in Horton, with Horton station on the Settle-Carlisle line two minutes away. The walled lane means a dog can be off the lead for the climb with no stiles at all, which is rare in this country, but Hull Pot itself is a sheer unfenced rock chasm you must lead your dog past, and the open moor beyond carries sheep and requires leads from 1 March to 31 July.
The most dog-manageable of the Three Peaks: a six-mile circuit from Horton up the crouching-lion profile of Pen-y-ghent (694m), returning past the gaping chasm of Hull Pot. This is working sheep country from start to summit, so keep dogs on a lead around livestock and during the March-to-July ground-nesting season; expect stiles, a short rocky scramble near the top and serious weather potential. Park at the village pay and display.
Eight miles and about four and a half hours across the quiet limestone west of Ribblesdale: a stony climb through the rock gateway of Sulber Nick, then the great bare pavement of Moughton Scar, which is slow, ankle-turning walking on rock and grass rather than path. Start from the pay-and-display car park in Horton-in-Ribblesdale; Horton has its own station on the Settle to Carlisle line, three minutes from the start. It is grazed fell from end to end, so keep the dog on the lead and expect to be watched by a farm dog or two; the deep fissures in the pavement will trap a paw and there are unfenced pots off the path near Sulber, there is no water after Douk Gill, and the wall crossings on the descent include tight stone squeezes as well as two ladder stiles that a large dog will need lifting over.
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