Route diagram, drawn from the recorded track — for the shape of the walk, not for navigation. Carry OS Explorer on the hill.
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.
An independently run eighteenth-century coaching inn on the Wharfe with thirteen en-suite rooms looking to the river or the fells. Dogs are welcome in both bars and in the bedrooms for a small nightly charge, making it a sensible base for Great Whernside and the Dales Way.
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