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How to walk to Pen y ghent

Walk directions to be used alongside a map

1. Beginning from the Yorkshire Dales National Park Pay and Display Car Park in Horton in Ribblesdale (W3W above) head out of the entrance to the car park and turn right, walking along the pavement, passing the old information centre (now shut) until you reach a footpath sign for Foxup and Pen y Ghent.

2. Cross the road here and head up the footpath on your left, passing through a gate. Here you meet a T junction with a lane. It has a little picture of the routes up Pen y ghent in the dry stone wall ahead. Leftwards is signposted Pen y ghent, but this is in fact your return route. At this point turn right and head through the farm buildings, coming out at the beck where there is a footbridge crossing it. Cross the footbridge and turn left onto the lane on the other side.

3. Continue up the lane, keeping the beck on your left hand side. The lane bends around to the right and heads gradually upwards until you reach a farm and a signpost pointing left through a wooden gate and across the farm yard.

4. Head through the gate and across the farmyard towards a metal gate. Next to this are some steps heading up to the wooden footpath gate which has a yellow footpath waymarker on it. Head through the gate and turn left. Stick to the path and avoid causing excess erosion by following the waymarked route.

5. Continue upwards on this path. It more or less follows the wall (on your left) all the way up to the final ascent to the summit. On the climb, you will have views of the craggy summit ahead of you.

6. At the end of the first ascent, you will reach a gate through the wall ahead and a junction of footpaths and a signpost pointing to Pen y Ghent. Here, turn left. You will see the rocky climb up ahead. This part of the climb requires some scrambling as the path heads up steeply. At the top of the scramble, the path then levels out and becomes a wide clear flagged path that takes you to the trig point.

7. Pass the trig point on your right and take the gate in the wall to your left signposted Pennine Way, Yorkshire Three Peaks. Head through the wall and follow the wide stony track that begins to gradually descend from the summit. As you begin to reach the bottom of the main descent, there is Hunt Pot, on an offshoot path to your left. Well worth a detour if you have a map! Wainwright called it an ‘evil slit’ Check out the pictures, I don’t think he was far off!

8. The path will pass through two gates. After the second, you will reach a crossroads of footpaths. Your return route to Horton in Ribblesdale is on the left, heading through the gate. BUT if you’d like to go and see Hull Pot whilst you are here, you need to take a right for a short detour.

9. After around a quarter of a mile, you will see a MASSIVE crater in the ground. This is Hull Pot. In wet weather you will be treated to a little waterfall into the hole. In VERY wet weather you might be lucky enough to see Hull Pot Beck in full flow which creates an even more spectacular waterfall, and in extremely wet conditions, the pot become a lake and completely fills up (this is in extreme and prolonged wet weather when the ground is saturated, so is more likely to happen during the winter months). Whenever you visit, take care not to go near the edge. Limestone is slippery!

10. Head back to the crossroads from point 7.

11. Head through the gate in the wall signposted Public Bridleway: Horton in Ribblesdale and literally follow the track all the way back to the village to the gate where you started. Head back through the gate and back into the village.

12. Turn right onto the pavement next to the road at the end and then return to the car park.

Last walked November 2025.

Alternate Route to Hull Pot only

In case you’ve been caught out by the weather, why not try a lower level walk to Hull Pot? If you can get it when the waterfall is flowing, even better!

1. Head out the car park and turn right, walking along the footpath until you see a signpost in the wall for Foxup and Pen y Ghent (as per point 1 in the instructions above)

2. Cross the road and follow the path up the lane, passing through a gate and to a T junction with a lane. If you just want to head to Hull Pot, turn left here and continue to follow the lane, it will take you almost all the way to Hull Pot.

3. At the head of the lane, you will see a gate. At this point continue straight on to get to Hull Pot, which after a short distance should become visible!

4. Then you can retrace your steps back to the start!