Easy Walks In And Around Skipton

The Roberts Family

Skipton is a vibrant market town on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales. It has many pubs, restaurants and shops. And best of all, for walkers, public transport is excellent. There are plenty of trains, buses and taxis.

It is a nice place to be.

Many websites detail wonderful walks in this area, but I am not as fit as I used to be, and more importantly, I am no longer sure-footed. Big peaks with stony descents are beyond my ability. So the walks I describe are more accessible. Some may climb up to local trig points and go over high stiles, but there is nothing too demanding.

I hope these routes, along with the accompanying photos, encourage to get your boots on and get out there. You can be confident that all the paths shown on the maps exist on the ground so there should be no surprises.

And, as you will see from the photographs, it never rains in Yorkshire.

Happy walking!

(I have recently added a 'current location indicator' to my OS map pages. Regrettably, it is only as accurate as the geo-location service of the phone it's running on. And on my iPhone it is not always as accurate as I would like. So use with caution.)

Up 'n' Over: (3.6 miles, circular. Along the canal, through the park, up hill through a housing estate, then back through Skipton Castle Woods.)

This is our default walk. We do this this any day we are not doing anything different.

From the canal junction we walk up the canal in the Liverpool direction, then through Aireville Park. From the park it's up hill through a housing estate in order to get to the top end of Skipton Castle Woods.

The woods are a secret delight and a Skipton 'must see'. We walk the length of them - a little muddy in wet weather - then back into town down the Springs Branch canal.

This takes us an hour and a quarter.

Skipton To Addingham: (6.3 miles, one-way. Uphill on to Skipton Moor, then along the Dales High Way 'Roman Road' bridle path to Addingham. Excellent views. Potentially muddy.)

We start with an easy, but long, climb up to the 'shoulder' of Skipton Moor, then follow the Dales High Way 'Roman Road' bridle path to all the way to Addingham.

Excellent views over to Embsay Moor and beyond because you are high up. Always a bit of mud, but potentially very muddy after lots of rain.

Takes around 2 hours 45 minutes. Bus back to Skipton.

Pinhaw Beacon (7 miles, one-way. Bus to Thornton-in-Craven, Pennine Way up to the trig point of Pinhaw Beacon. Walk across farm land down to Cononley. Train home.)

A walk through pretty farmland up to a trig point, so many excellent views.

Mostly on the Pennine Way, so pretty good paths.

Mainline 280 bus to the start. Single stop home on the train back from Cononley.

Takes around 3 hours 30 minutes.

Dales Way: Grassington to Kettlewell (6 miles, one-way. Drive or bus to Kettlewell, Shuttle bus to Grassington. Walk the Dales Way back to Kettlewell.)

This walk shouldn't really be listed here: Kettlewell is 15 miles north of Skipton; and the walk needs no promotion - it is on a well known section of the Dales Way.

But I enclude it because it is so beautiful. I hope my photos encourage you to give it a go.

All of the walk is through lovely Wharfedale countryside, but the section from Conistone Pie to Highgate Leys Lane is exceptional.

It takes around 3 hours 30 minutes.

Canal towpath - in the Leeds direction.
Choose how far you want to walk.

We have now walked all of the towpath between Skipton and Leeds - over several days, of course! With the noted exception, the towpath is in good condition all the way.

Obvious staging posts are Kildwick, Bingley and Saltaire.

We like to walk one way and get bus or train the other. The excellent public transport make this easy to do.

Canal towpath - in the Liverpool direction.
Choose how far you want to walk.

So far, we have walked as far as the Foulridge Tunnel - not in one go, though! The towpath is in good condition throughout.

Obvious staging posts are Gargrave, Barnoldswick and Foulridge.

We like to walk one way and get bus or train the other. The excellent public transport make this easy to do.

Jubilee Tower and Skipton Moor.
(A more challenging walk. 7.5 miles. Over several moors culminating on Skipton Moor. Lots of tricky stiles and a bog!)

Skipton Moor, the hill that dominates the town, is a 'must do' walk.

This route starts by taking the bus to Kildwick then climbing on to Farnhill Moor and viewing the Jubilee Tower.

Then over farmland to the far end of Skipton Moor.

Finally across the 'Black Sike' bog and up to the trig point on top of the moor, then back home down Jenny Gill.

It takes around four and a half hours.

Catlow Gill and Ramshaw.
(9 miles. A couple of stream crossings and a steep grassy descent.)

This walk goes south across a footbridge over the River Aire, then on to the pretty village of Carleton-in-Craven. You then climb into the hills by walking in farm land next to Catlow Gill.

There are two beck crossings involving short but steep grassy slopes and stony fords.

There's a short section on quiet lanes at the top, before crossing the 'Ramshaw' moor. A long steep grassy slope down the northern end of Ramshaw gets us back down.

Finally it's back into Carleton and across the fields back into Skipton

It takes around four hours.