Walk · North Yorkshire

Woodale, Arkleside and Horsehouse by the River Cover

Woodale
N 880 YD
3.8MILES
1h 50mON FOOT
95mCLIMB
CircularSHAPE
Off-road 25% 75% shares tarmac with cars
Field & moor path 25%Road with traffic 75%

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

Starts at
The farm buildings at Woodale on the Coverdale road, between Coverhead and Arkleside
Parking
There is no car park and barely a verge. Two or three cars fit on the grass by the road at Woodale and the same at Arkleside, and both are passing places, so pull right in. There is a longer lay-by be
Directions to the start →

Woodale is three or four farms at the head of Coverdale, and the honest walk from the door goes down the dale rather than up onto the moor, where the only route out is the long crossing to Nidderdale. Follow the single-track Coverdale road north-east past Arkleside to Horsehouse, then drop onto the field path that runs back along the south side of the River Cover through walled hay meadows to Arkleside, and finish on the road. Be clear that most of this is road: the Coverdale road is quiet and grass-centred in places, but it is the through route over Park Rash to Kettlewell and cars come round the bends quickly, so a lead is the sensible default rather than a precaution. The field section crosses working pasture with stock in it, through gates and stiles, and the Cover runs close by in a shallow rocky bed that dogs can get into and out of easily.

THE SMALL PRINTYorkshire Dales National Park Authority advice: keep your dog on a lead on public rights of way and in fields where there is livestock present, and use a short lead from March to July for ground-nesting birds. Roughly three quarters of this route is on the single-track Coverdale road, which has no pavement and no verge in places.

House rules, decoded

Livestock — leads on
REGION · NORTH YORKSHIRE
GRID · 54.2096, -1.9673
SOURCE · HTTPS://WWW.YORKSHIREDALES.ORG.UK/PLAN-YOUR-VISIT/ESSENTIAL-INFORMATION/DOGS/

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