Yorkshire Dales Yorkshire Moors Cleveland Way Pennine Way Bridleway Calderdale Way

Yorkshire Dales National Park, Walking in the Yorkshire Dales

Each part of the Yorkshire Dales has its own distinct character and history. To the east the Nidderdale area is designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Ripon, Masham, Pateley Bridge and Bedale all serve as charming East Dales bases. To the north more spectacular scenery awaits around Swaledale and Wensleydale. Top Dales walking bases in this area include Reeth in the heart of Swaledale and Hawes the main hub for Wensleydale. The Pennine Way National Trail passes Hawes, making it particularly popular as a walker base.

Malham and Settle in the South Dales are perfect as gateways into the Three Peaks whilst Skipton with its intact medieval castle serves as bustling main market town and gateway to the Dales. At beautiful Ingleton you'll find White Scar Cave, the spectacular massive ice-age cavern with underground waterfalls, streams and thousands of stalactites. Cyclists love the Dales and all the National Park Centres offer advice on marked cycle ways and cycle hire. Dotted within stunning scenery are bustling villages with specialist shops offering arts, crafts and some of the best outdoor clothing shops in the country. Historic spa towns such as Harrogate and Ilkley sit just on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales National Park.

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North Yorkshire Moors National Park & The Cleveland Way

The North Yorkshire Moors National Park is a uniquely special Yorkshire region. Around one third of it is stunning heather moorland with open access now for all. See it purple in summer with the flowering heather. It's not all stunning moorland however - there's woodland here too particularly the forests to the south east of the park at Dalby and around Cropton and to the south west of the park at Bolby near Thirsk. The North Yorkshire Moors National Park pushes all the way to the coast, with the Cleveland Way national trail winding round the outskirts of the park and along the coast from Saltburn south to Filey. Spectacular coastal walking awaits here!

Alongside superb opportunities for walking, cycling and horse riding within the North York Moors, a host of stunning villages offer up a superb choice of B&Bs, country pubs, specialist shops, historic buildings and museums. Particular Yorkshire Moors hotspots include Osmotherley, Cropton, Hutton le Hole (home to the Ryedale Folk Museum). Thornton le Dale, Goathland (the idyllic village used in the tv series Heartbeat), Kirkbymoorside, Appleton le Moors and Hambleton. One of the best, and most relaxing ways, to see the Yorkshire Moors is via the North Yorkshire Moors Railway which you can pick up in Pickering. The railway cuts across the Moors up through the Esk Valley, with stunning views all the way, to Grosmont then north east to Whitby. Ancient abbeys and castles are in the area too, such as Rievaulx Abbey, once the north's richest Cistercian stronghold.

The Cleveland Way was the second of the national trails to open in the UK in 1969, the Pennine Way being the first a few years earlier in 1965. The magnificent Cleveland Way is a 109 mile/176km trail winding up from its starting point at Helmsley to the Sutton Bank Centre in a horseshoe shape around the outskirts of the North York Moors Park. The Cleveland Way runs down the coast from Saltburn to Filey, and contains some of the UK's most stunning coastal cliff walking particularly on the designated Heritage Coast Stretch between Whitby and Scarborough.

The Moors National Park Centre, Lodge Lane, Danby, Whitby, North Yorkshire YO21 2NB. Tel. 01439 772737. Sutton Bank National Park Centre, Sutton Bank, Thirsk, North Yorkshire YO7 2EH. Tel. 01845 597426.

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Pennine Yorkshire Walking Holidays

The stunning landscapes of the northern Peak District and the South Pennines sit within the Kirklees region around Huddersfield.

To the south west of Huddersfield are the dramatic Pennine Moors including the National Trust's Marsden Moor Estate. Further south sits the equally stunning Colne and Holme Valleys. Historic villages such as Marsden and Holmfirth make perfect walker bases. To the east the landscapes are somewhat gentler around Kirkburton, Emley and Denby Dale. A walker's paradise, Kirklees contains a host of way-marked trails and national trails including the Pennine Way winding across the high moorland of the region, the circular Kirklees Way, the Colne Valley Circular Walk, the Holme Valley Circular Walk, the Bronte Way and the Spen Valley Heritage Trail.

Holmfirth Tourist Information Centre can provide useful guides and maps on numerous walking paths in the area including the Holme Valley Riverside Way (6 miles), the Holme Valley Circular Walk (24 miles) the Kirklees Way (72 miles).

Covering nearly 5685 acres the stunning moorland of Marsden Moor is a designated SSSI incorporating the northern area of the Peak District. The Pennine Way National Trail winds up through the area (Marsden makes for an ideal accommodation base not far from the Pennine Way). Marsden Moor's landscapes include valleys, peaks, crags and reservoirs. It's a popular spot with bird watchers who can expect to see moorland birds such as red grouse, curlew, diminutive twite and golden plover. For more information on facilities see the National Trust webguide right and visit the National Trust Centre near Marsden Railway Station.

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Top Withins Walk, The Pennine Way & The Bronte Way

The Top Withins ruins actually sit on the Pennine Way National Trail (webguide right), and the stunning moorlands of Haworth and Keighley Moors are popular with walkers.

The 43 mile (69km) Bronte Way is the definitive trail for Bronte fans. The trail takes in many key sites related to the Brontes including Thornton/Pondon Hall inspiration for Thrushcross Grave in Wuthering Heights, Haworth village and the Bronte Parsonage and the Kay-Shuttleworth's home Gawthorpe Hall in Padiham near Burnley to which Charlotte Bronte made frequent visits. Pick up a copy of the Ramblers Association's publication 'Bronte Way' by Marie Wilson for a comprehensive guide to walking this trail and its links and historic sites pertaining to the Brontes.

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The Calderdale Way West Yorkshire

The Calderdale Way opened in 1978 and is a fifty mile (80km) circular walkway stretching from Todmorden all the way across around Hebden Bridge and Halifax to Baliff Bridge, then back round by Sowerby Bridge, Cragg Vale and Todmorden again. Twenty six paths link up to the Calderdale Way.

Place names, mostly of English origin, around the Calderdale Way hold ancient meanings. 'Calder' means 'rapid water', 'ley' as in Stoodley and Midgley means clearing, 'dene' means valley as in Todmorden, Ripponden and Luddenden and 'tonstall' means farmstead, as in Heptonstall. Scandinavian influences can be seen in names like Sowerby meaning village on sour or muddy land. Up until the latter part of the 13th century most settlements were hamlets on the valley tops such as Heptonstall and Mankinholes. As the population increased, so the valleys were gradually cleared - Mytholmroyd means 'clearing at the water meetings'.

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