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, up the old peat road onto the moor at Capplestone Gate, down the grassy Conistone Turf Road into the village, and back along the Dales Way limestone terrace with Wharfedale below you all the way; the moor top is peaty and wet even in a dry spell. Start from the car park in Kettlewell and finish there; the 72 bus links Kettlewell and Conistone if the weather turns and you want to cut it short. Sheep graze the moor and the terrace and there are ground-nesting birds from March to July so keep the dog on the lead, the becks on the climb give water but the terrace has none, and while the moor gates are wide the Dales Way stretch between Conistone and Kettlewell crosses several narrow stone squeeze stiles that a large dog will not fit through.
Eight miles and a full five hours for the biggest hill above Wharfedale, climbing beside Dowber Gill Beck past the old hostel at Hag Dyke and onto a gritstone summit ridge of peat hag and boulder that is genuinely wet, genuinely rough, and no place to be in low cloud without a compass. Park in the village car park in Kettlewell; the 72 bus from Skipton and Grassington comes in as far as here, but check the timetable because it is a handful of journeys a day. Sheep are on the fell year round and the tops carry ground-nesting birds from March to July, so the dog stays on the lead; the beck gives good water for the first two miles and nothing above it, and the descent by Top Mere Road is on grass and stone with gates rather than stiles, though there are two ladder stiles high on the ridge that a big dog cannot climb and will have to be carried over.
Five miles with 258 metres of climbing, about three hours, up the steep walled track of Top Mere Road to Cam Head for the length of Wharfedale, down into Starbotton and back beside the river on the Dales Way. The first half mile is a genuine steep pull on a rough track; start from the pay-and-display car park in Kettlewell, which the Dales Bus 72 serves from Grassington at weekends. Sheep are on the fell and in every riverside field so leads are needed the whole way, and while the walled tracks have gates the Dales Way return has stone stiles and step stiles that a big dog will need help over; the Wharfe below Starbotton is shallow and gravelly for a swim.
Homely seventeenth-century inn in the middle of Kettlewell, a natural halt on the Dales Way through Upper Wharfedale. Dogs are welcome inside and out, with water bowls, dog treats and even a dog menu, and dog-friendly bedrooms are available for a small charge. Home-cooked food and well-kept ales for the humans.
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