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.

A local walking group – Bentham Footpath Group – has uploaded excellent directions for a circular walk from Rathmell (our nearest village) to Whelpstone Crag – whelp-stone-crag-from-rathmell
Our guests are already part way along the journey – just join the walk from the road junction just after Hesley Hall. To adapt the walk, check out the map and find our location at Boostagill Farm. The map also shows other footpaths from Boostagill (right where Peaks and Pods is situated). There’s even an PDF file of the walk available to download.

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!

Local Walks

We’re lucky that the author of a fantastic walking website – www.where2walk.co.uk – lives only a few miles away from Peaks and Pods. Where2walk presents some superb walks in the Yorkshire Dales, each featuring photographs, maps and descriptions – free to download or print. The walks are grouped in different ways – by map location, as a list, or by category. The categories include ‘Shorter walks for all’, ‘Riverside Strolls’, ‘Walks through History’ and ‘Catch the Summits’. To find walks around the Settle area, click on the map.

Local walks featured:
Hidden Treasures of Malham Tarn
Whernside from Ribblehead
Horton to Settle Walk
Bluebells at Oxenber Woods
Weet Tops – The quiet side of Malham
Settle Walk with a View
Long Preston Deeps
A Walk Round Malham Tarn
Lanes above Long Preston
A Snowy Walk near Settle
Long Preston and Otterburn
Austwick and Crummackdale
Ingleborough from Clapham
Ingleborough Nature Reserve
Yorkshire Three Peaks
Settle and the Ribble Valley
Settle Loop
Airton and Kirkby Malham
Ingleton Waterfalls Walk
Feizor and Austwick Walk
Ribblehead – a short walk
Eight stiles around Long Preston
Footsteps of Tolkien
Climb Pen-y-ghent from Horton
Ribblehead to Horton
Skipton Castle and Woods
Trough of Bowland
Walks round Stock’s Reservoir

The website features detailed descriptions of walks, with suggestions of places to visit and even weather forecasts. Its author Jonathan also runs navigation courses and organises guided walks in the area.