WAGFINDER
Walk · North Yorkshire

The Dales Way up Oughtershaw Beck to Nethergill and Swarthghyll

Oughtershaw · BD23 5JR
N 880 YD
3.3MILES
1h 40mON FOOT
60mCLIMB
Out & backSHAPE
Off-road 85% 15% shares tarmac with cars
Field & moor path 10%Lane & track 75%Road with traffic 15%

Our drawing of the route — the shape of the walk, not a navigation aid. Carry OS Explorer on the hill.

Starts at
The junction by the old school and chapel in Oughtershaw, BD23 5JR, where the Dales Way turns off the Hawes road BD23 5JR
Parking
Roadside only. There are grass verges and one or two wider spots on the Oughtershaw to Hawes road at the top of the hamlet. Do not block the field gates or the farm turnings, which are in daily use, a
Directions to the start →

The infant Wharfe is called Oughtershaw Beck this high up, and the Dales Way follows it north-west out of the hamlet, first as a walled farm lane and then as a concrete-strip track past Nethergill to Swarthghyll. It is almost level and easy underfoot, which is rare in this dale, with the beck below on the left and the bare side of Oughtershaw Side opposite. Nethergill is run as a conservation farm, so there are lapwing, curlew and oystercatcher on the ground either side and very free-range hens around the buildings, and the farm asks walkers to lead dogs past. Swarthghyll is the sensible turning point: beyond it the Dales Way climbs onto Cam Fell with two miles of open moor and no shelter of any kind.

THE SMALL PRINTYorkshire Dales National Park Authority advice: a lead on public rights of way and in fields with livestock, and a short lead from March to July for ground-nesting birds. This track runs through the yards and in-bye land of three working farms with sheep, cattle and loose hens, so it is a lead walk end to end.

House rules, decoded

Livestock — leads on
REGION · NORTH YORKSHIRE
GRID · 54.2286, -2.1993
SOURCE · HTTPS://WWW.YORKSHIREDALES.ORG.UK/PLAN-YOUR-VISIT/ESSENTIAL-INFORMATION/DOGS/
Also in Oughtershaw
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Nethergill Farm Haylofts

BD23 5JS
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Two self-catering haylofts in a stone barn of 1871, a mile up the dale from Oughtershaw on the rough lane beside Oughtershaw Beck, with the Dales Way passing the door. The farm is run for conservation across four hundred acres at the head of the Wharfe, which is exactly why the dog rules are firm: leads everywhere on the land, because of ground-nesting birds, free-range hens and stock. Two dogs are accepted by prior arrangement for a twenty pound cleaning charge, and they may go in the becks at their owner's risk. This is the last accommodation before Cam Fell and the Pennine Way, and the nearest pub is at Hubberholme, six miles down Langstrothdale.

Livestock — leads on
VERIFIED 30 JUL 2026 VIEW ›

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