Walking & Outdoors

The Yorkshire Dales National Park has launched a free GPS-enabled walking app offering 35 fantastic trails for walkers of all ages and abilities.

The app is suitable for Apple and Android smartphones and the walks are a mix of linear and circular routes, graded to help make an informed choice of walk, either a list or map view.

The app’s key feature is an offline mapping tool that allows you to track a walk, regardless of whether there’s a mobile phone signal or not. It also contains essential information such as the Countryside Code, what kit to take, and safety tips, and provides links throughout to more detailed information on this website where needed.

We’ve picked the walks from that are within a decent distance of Peaks and Pods.
Next to the name of the town or village, we’ve included information about how far the starting point is from our site and how long it might take to drive to the starting point.

Buckden – 30 miles from Peaks and Pod (1hr drive away)
Burnsall – 23 miles (50 min)
Devil’s Bridge (nr Kirkby Lonsdale) – 20 miles (32 min)
Grassington – 22 miles (50 min)
Hawes – 31 miles (50 min)
Kettlewell – 28 miles (55 min)
Malham – 12 miles (30 min)
Malham Tarn – 11 miles (35 min)
Settle – 5 miles (15 min)

Click here for a link to the free walking app – Yorkshire Dales Walking App

Boustagill Farm, the home of Peaks and Pods, has six footpaths pointing out from it, making it an ideal starting point for many great countryside walks. It’s a quiet and unspoilt part of the country with open fields edged with dry stone walls, amazing views and wildlife.

Head up to the nearby rocky outcrops at Whelpstone Crag on the edge of the Forest of Bowland, which offers superb views of the area, or pass through unique local farms such as Cappleside, whose stunning stone farmhouse dates back to the early 17th century.

You’ll find us on OL41 in the OS Explorer series ‘Pendle Hill, Clitheroe & Settle’ that covers the Forest of Bowland and Yorkshire Dales National. Visit ordnancesurvey.co.uk/shop/explorer-map-forest-of-bowland-ribblesdale. Boustagill Farm (spelt Boostagill on the map) even features specially on the map snapshots!

We have plotted a selection of walks of different lengths from the site using walk4life.org. We have details of the walks available at Peaks and Pods, or you can find them on the walk4life website. (It costs £5 to be a member for a year.) You can join our Peaks and Pods group online at walk4life, click the ‘Visit our Groups’ tab, enter Peaks and Pods in the keywords box, and you’ll find walks from ‘Boostagill’. Click ‘Our next walk’ and you can view and print off the maps. Alternatively, just search for walks from BD24 0LS from the ‘Search for a walk’ tab.

We’re lucky that the author of a fantastic walking website – www.where2walk.co.uk – lives only a few miles away […]

We’re in shouting distance of Yorkshire’s famous Three Peaks. Take one at a time – Penyghent, Ingleborough or Whernside – or take the Three Peaks Challenge if you’re feeling brave enough! www.threepeakschallenge.uk/yorkshire-three-peaks-challenge.

Local guides are on hand to escort you along the way, should you want some extra support and great local knowledge. Contact us for further details and to help you to connect with our qualified guides.

The Penyghent Cafe at Horton in Ribblesdale is a good starting point for the Three Peaks and the cafe operates a clock-in/out system to time, and aid the safety of walkers. Many people prefer to start the circular walk at other points to avoid the crowds in Horton-in-Ribblesdale and instead stop at the Café for lunch or a break.

Penyghent

Penyghent, at 2,277ft high, is the closest of the three peaks to Peaks and Pods. It’s the smallest peak and The Pennine Way links the village of Horton-in-Ribblesdale to its summit. Penyghent is also the first climb of the Three Peaks Challenge and if you’re new to walking or the Three Peaks, it’s the perfect introduction.

Whernside

The highest of the Three Peaks, Whernside is 2,415 ft high, the highest point in Yorkshire, and is the second mountain climbed during the Three Peaks Challenge. Slightly different in shape to the other peaks, Whernside is a ridge runnning NE to SW. If walking Whernside on its own, it is most easily accessed from Ribblehead.

Ingleborough

The second highest peak is Ingleborough at 2,372 ft high and is the last mountain climbed during the Three Peaks Challenge. Ingleborough is also the […]

We are also close to the Pennine Way – only about ten miles by road – joining the route just past Kirkby Malham. The Pennine Way – one of the country’s National Trails – runs from the Peaks District in the south, and Northumberland in the north, and chases along the mountain tops along the rugged backbone of England, offering 268 miles of the finest upland walking in England.

Malham Cove features as one of the Pennine Way’s top attractions and is definitely worth a visit. It’s a huge curving amphitheatre shaped cliff formation of limestone rock and the vertical face of the cliff is 260 feet high. The top of the cove is a large area of deeply eroded limestone pavement. The cove is a short walk from the public car park in the village. Walk along the road and then a surfaced path across fields to the bottom of the cove for a great view. A further scramble over rocks takes you to the very base of the cove and the emergence of a river at its base.

If you continue to follow the Pennine Way, you will find stone steps at the left side of the cove which will take you up onto the limestone pavement at the top for stunning views over Malhamdale.

Two circular walks take in the base and top of Malham Cove. A longer circular walk including Malham Tarn and Gordale Scar, or the walk can be shortened by missing out Malham Tarn and following the Malham Landscape Trail.

The National Trails’ website gives comprehensive information and […]

Stretch your legs and walk on one of the many trails through Gisburn Forest, most starting from Stocks Reservoir car park, with a link trail to and from Gisburn Forest Hub. Toilets are available at the Hub and car park tickets are valid for use at all sites on the day of purchase. Gisburn Forest’s website – forestryengland.uk/gisburn-forest-and-stocks – has details of five different walks of varying difficulty for all ages and abilities.

Birch Hill Trail is a short 40-minute walk (1.3 miles) that follows the old farm track of Miry Lane and through young woodland, following white markers. You’ll pass the old vicarage garden picnic area and two wildlife hides.

Egg Berry Road trail, following blue markers, is a one-hour walk (2.2 miles) offering a gentle climb through woodland leading to a historic track. Passing through mixed woodland this route follows an old farmstead track known as Eggberry Road.  There are views over Bottoms Beck to the ancient broadleaved woodland of Park Wood.

Dale Head Ramble, described as moderate, follows red markers and is 3.2 miles (approx. 1.5 hours). A steady climb through Birch Hills, followed by a descent to Bottoms Beck.  There are great views over the forest and Hesbert Hill Farm.  The trail follows the course of an old railway along the beck to join with Eggberry Road where there are fine views of Park Wood and Stocks Reservoir.

Gisburn Forest Hub to School Lane Link is 2 miles each way, so allow 45 minutes’ walking time each way. From the Hub the trail can be walked as a linear there […]

Stocks Reservoir is the largest fly fishery in the North West of England. Stocks Reservoir has over four miles of fishable shoreline and 350 acres of open water, accessible by a variety of specially designed boats for hire.

The lodge and tackle shop, next to the car park, is open from 8am until dusk with a member of the fishery team always on duty to offer their help and advice. It has a well-stocked tackle shop, a café selling hot and cold snacks and separate male, female and disabled toilets.

Situated at the head of the Hodder Valley in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Stocks has a wild and unspoiled quality the perfect place for a day’s fly fishing. Visit www.stocksreservoir.com for more information.

Clapham is only 12 miles from Peaks and Pods and the pretty village is the starting point for the Ingleborough Estate’s Nature Trail, which winds through beautiful lakeside woodland up to Ingleborough Cave. The trail, suitable for wheelchairs and prams, was created to celebrate the work of Reginald Farrer, a plant collector and author, who travelled the world gathering many rare plant species before cultivating them in the area.

Take a tour of Ingleborough Cave during the summer months, and see what is believed to be the biggest stalactite in Great Britain at 16ft 5ins. There is a cave shop and toilet facilities at the entrance.

Visit www.ingleboroughcave.co.uk.

Find out more about the nature trail at www.visitsettle.co.uk/ingleborough-estate-nature-trail.html. Click here for the Ingleborough Estate Nature Trail leaflet Click here for the Ingleborough Cave leaflet

Just a 20-minute drive away at Ingleton is the home of Cave and Canyon UK, who offer caving and canyoning adventure days and courses for all ages and abilities. The highly qualified instructors also offer climbing, abseiling, paddle sports, bushcraft and survival, and more, with the best outdoor kit provided.

Check out what’s on offer on their website www.caveandcanyonuk.com, or ring on 07909 223819.