Halloween Walks

Yorkshire Dales Walks with Spooky Legends

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Are you looking for a Yorkshire Dales walk with a ghostly tale?

Perhaps you want to immerse yourself fully into the world of folklore, follow in the footsteps of a Yorkshire Witch, or want to visit a spot associated with one the Yorkshire Dales baddies?

Well I can pretty much guarantee you’ll find a walk for you on this page! I have spent a long time researching the ghost stories, folklore and tales of witchcraft that surround the Yorkshire Dales, and each of these walks touches on one of the tales!

In fact there are so many walks that follow the footsteps of legends, I have divided them into four categories:

The Yorkshire Dales Ghost Stories

The Yorkshire Dales Witches

The Yorkshire Dales Beasties and Fairies

The Yorkshire Dales Dark History

Scroll to the bottom of the page and you’ll find links to articles I have written about the Tales of the Dales! Ghosts, Witches, Highwaymen, Demons, Monsters and more!

So check it out! I reckon it’s the perfect way to spent a Halloween day, month or YEAR!…

(Sources for my Yorkshire Dales Ghostly Legends, Horrible History and Beasties Walks: Haunted Yorkshire Dales by Summer Strevens, Yorkshire Witches by Eileen Rennison, The Dark Side of the Dales and The Grassington Murder by Mark Bridgman and Haunted Yorkshire by Nick Tyler - all of these are a great read if you love a good ghost story! Also a LOT of internet research, including pages such as the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority Website!)

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Thank you for taking the time to have a look at my website and for reading this now!

I set up the Reluctant Explorers and maintain the website and attached social media accounts in my spare time, around mum-life and two jobs. It was designed to provide access for parents to free resources to help get more families outside and exploring in nature. These walks have all been created by myself and the kids and we have walked each one ourselves (and re-walk them regularly to keep the information as up to date as we can).

If you would like to support us and can afford a few pennies, you can make a donation to our ‘Buy Me a Coffee’ page. Simply tap the button below to head there!

Tap Here to Buy Me a Coffee
Child holding the hand of a witch statue in a cave

The Star Guides

Each of our has been walked by our own 6 feet (in the sense of us being three actual humans, not in a kind of weird monster-like way!) Often, they have been walked several times and sometimes, they have been walked so often that they have been added to. This website has been growing alongside the OG Reluctant Explorers and now they can handle a little bit more - maybe yours can too.

I will say. As parents we know our kids better than anybody. I have done my best to include as much information as I can in each individual walk, so you can make your own judgement as a family. So the star ratings are just a guide to get you started.

⭐ Little Monkeys:

Walks suitable for younger children up to preschool (and beyond!) Shorter length walks with occasional pushchair access, no technical or tricky terrain. Perfect for those who are just getting out of the pushchair (and then back in again… and then back out…. and then… you know how it goes!)

⭐⭐ Little Adventurers:

Walks suitable for pre-schoolers and younger kids. Medium length/ difficulty walks. In these walks, there may be some more challenging terrain, but they are still fairly short.

⭐⭐⭐ Superstar Hikers:

Walks suitable for older children. Not necessary longer length, but they are more technically challenging in the terrain, and on occasion the distance as well.

Two children wearing white sheets and caving helmets with sunglasses and a headtorch dressed as ghosts

The Walk Emojis

I’m renowned for a heavy used of emojis in my regular life, so why on EARTH should my website be any different?! Here is a guide as to what they all stand for.

Essentially, it’s a brief look at what you can expect from the walk, but in emoji form. (I’m campaigning for a pram emoji. It would make my pushchair friendly walk life MUCH easier.)

👶 Suitable for Pushchairs (see? no pram emoji)

🎒 Suitable for Carriers (that’s a rucksack, not a weird satchel. Closest thing to a kid carrier I could find!)

🚘 Car Park/ On Street Parking (plain sailing there - all of our walks have places to park, although if possible try….

🚌 Public Transport (PLEASE! To try and alleviate parking problems and to just in general be an excellent egg.)

🐶 Dog Friendly (plenty of those!)

🥾 Sturdy Footwear or Wellies (I’d say for most, walking shoes/ boots, for some, wellies)

🛝 A park or play area (I try my hardest to find one, or at least tell you where the nearest one is!)

🦆 Ducks to Feed (bring your duck food!)

🍦 Ice Cream! For Ice cream is truly a WONDERFUL addition to a family walk!

☕ As is coffee (for the adults obviously - I’m not going to subject you to a caffeine fuelled reluctant explorer THE HORROR!) This one means you can find coffee, tea or hot chocolate (ok - that one’s for the WHOLE family!)

🍻 Because I know how a family walk can go, you’ll be relieved to know that I’ll also tell you if there’s a pub at the end!

💦 Water play/ paddle/ swim (Check out our advice on Wild Swimming with Kids and the RLSS Water Safety info)

✨📚 Cool history, geology, something blummin’ awesome to talk about.

👻 Legendary Story. Ghosts, horrible history, witches and trolls!

🌳 Walking Games - they all have these!

Ghosts sitting on the ruins of a lead mine

Yorkshire Dales Ghost Stories

Walks with Ghost Stories

Tap Here to Head to our Ghost Walks
A witch flying on a broomstick

Yorkshire Dales Witches

Walks with Witches

Tap here for Yorkshire Dales Witch Walks
Dressed up as a wolf howling

Yorkshire Dales Beasts and Fairies

Walks with Folklore

Tap here for walks with Folklore and Legends
A person standing on a large rock overlooking a dark, cloudy landscape at night, with a crescent moon in the sky and city lights in the distance.

Yorkshire Dales Horrid History

Walks with a Gruesome Tale

Tap here for walks with a Gruesome Tale

Something in mind? Search our full site!

(e.g. search: Gaping Gill Winch, Kettlewell etc.)

Scroll using the arrows for all our Family Friendly Walks

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We live and BREATHE the Yorkshire Dales outdoors life!

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Come follow our journey over on Instagram and Facebook where you’ll find up to date walk info, breaking news on Yorkshire Events, new Yorkshire Dales wild swim spots, climbing, caves and more!

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Follow us on Social Media for all the up to date info: @thereluctantexplorers

Leave No Trace

The Yorkshire Dales is our home, and the home of so many others who care deeply about this beautiful space.

Should you visit, make sure to:

Take home anything you bring, leave no rubbish behind.

Make the world a better place by picking up any rubbish you see, even if it isn’t yours.

Leave everything else as you found it.

Help us to protect our wild spaces.