Wharfedale Walks
Family walks in and around the Wharfedale area of the Yorkshire Dales
Are you looking for walks in and around the Wharfedale area?
Wharfedale is an absolute HUB in the Yorkshire Dales. You’ll find Grassington, Burnsall, Bolton Abbey, Kettlewell and more! So when it comes to family friendly walks, in Wharfedale you really are spoiled for choice!
The water of the River Wharfe starts its life up in Langstrothdale, a dale just off the top of Upper Wharfedale before it heads downstream and turns into the River Wharfe in Upper Wharfedale at Buckden and Cray. It stretches all the way through the southeastern dales, turning into one of the most deadly stretches of river when it hits Bolton Abbey and heads through The Strid. It then flows out of the Yorkshire Dales National park and passes through Ilkley and Burley in Wharfedale… to beyond! Eventually joining the Ouse near Selby.
It’s our home dale, we spend the most time here and so we can confidently tell you that we have walked these walks SO many times! And we have hand picked our best and favourite family walks for you guys to try!
You’ll find walks with waterfalls, walks with ruins, walks with horrible history, spooky legends, super cool caves and magically disappearing rivers…
Welcome to Wharfedale!
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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!
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!
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.
Grassington
Walks in and around the Grassington area of Wharfedale
Linton Circular
📍 Linton, Wharfedale Yorkshire Dales National Park
⭐⭐ Little Adventurers
📏 Circular walk, 3.5 miles
🥾🎒🚘👻💦🌳🚌🐶🍻
This is a super circular that takes you to Linton village, the Fountaine Inn and then back to the iconic Linton Falls. The perfect all year round kind of walk (although if you do go in the late Autumn, take some time to see if you can spot the trout leaping upstream at the falls!)
Grassington and Grass Woods
📍 Grassington, Yorkshire Dales, Wharfedale
⭐⭐⭐ Superstar Hikers
🥾🚘🎒☕🍻🍦🛝👻✨🌳🚌🐶
📏 4 miles circular walk
Woodland and Water. We think that is a perfect walk combination!
This circular walk starts and ends in the beautiful Dales town of Grassington, where you’ll also find a play park with skate ramps and plenty of places to eat and drink afterwards! Oh, and silly me! Ice cream too!
Linton Falls and Stepping Stones
📍 Linton, Wharfedale, Yorkshire Dales South East
⭐⭐ Little Adventurers
🚘🥾💦🎒✨🛝🍦🍻☕🌳👻🐶🚌
📏 2 miles circular walk (with longer options too)
Linton Falls are a super popular stop off and are spectacular after heavy rain! Although…. if you do this walk after heavy rain, you’ll probably not get over the stepping stones, so it’s a balancing act!
But never fear, if you value drama over stepping stones (I can sympathise) there is an alternative route!
This fantastic circular takes you from Linton Falls to the stepping stones and back!
Grassington Lead Mines from Hebden
📍 Hebden near Grassington in the Yorkshire Dales
⭐⭐⭐ Superstar Hikers
🥾🚘💦☕🍻🍦🛝✨🌳🚌🐶
📏 4-5 miles circular (can be further dependant on how much of the lead mining trail you take in)
This family friendly circular walk delivers. It’s got pretty waterfalls, an immense amount of industrial history, stunning Wharfedale views and ends at either the pub or one of our favourite tearooms in the Yorkshire Dales! Oh and there’s a teeny tiny play area with a rather dramatically high slide. at the end.
So what are you waiting for? Tap that button to go to our walk!
Scale Haw Force, Hebden
📍 Hebden near Grassington in the Yorkshire Dales
⭐⭐ Little Adventurers
🥾🚘🛝🍦🍻☕💦✨🌳🚌🐶
📏 Less than 2 miles.
This mini circular has stepping stones, a pretty waterfall in a secluded woody basin and it ends at the park and tearooms for ice cream or tasty treats! Or if the grown ups win, the pub.
The perfect bite-sized adventure for younger explorers.
Grimwith Reservoir
⭐⭐ Little Adventurers
📍 Wharfedale, The Yorkshire Dales, near Grassington
🥾🚘🎒🌳🚌🐶
📏 4.5 miles
This reservoir boasts incredible views across Wharfedale, from it’s elevated position. Plus, it is home to the Yorkshire Dales Sailing Club, so there are often boats to watch too and with part of the reservoir being a designated nature reserve, plenty of wildlife to spot too.
I’m not the biggest fan of reservoir walks (sorry!) but this one really does deliver on the views front!
Threshfield Quarry
📍 Near Grassington, Wharfedale Yorkshire Dales
⭐⭐ Little Adventurers
🥾🎒🚘✨🌳🚌🐶
📏 Circular walk, 4 miles
This circular walk is around the remains ofthe old Threshfield Quarry. A quirky family friendly walk, this one will take you past glimmering turquoise pools (look but don’t touch), past towering quarry walls, it gives you glorious views across Wharfedale and you might be lucky enough to catch the waterfall!
Burnsall Circular
⭐⭐ Little Adventurers
🥾🚘🎒☕🍻🍦💦👻✨🌳🚌🐶
📏 3-4 miles circular walk
📍 Burnsall, Wharfedale - Yorkshire Dales South East
This walk starts and ends in the beautiful village of Burnsall and it does what it says on the tin! It’ll take you in a loop past Loup Scar (ah… the two loops…) up to Thorpe and then back underneath the lower slopes of Burnsall and Thorpe Fell. Super!
Finish at the riverbank for a splash, grab and ice cream from the ice cream parlour and for the grown ups a top riverside beer garden!
Burnsall to Appletreewick
⭐⭐ Little Adventurers
🥾🚘🎒🦆💦👻✨🌳🚌🐶
📏 4 miles circular walk
📍 Burnsall, Wharfedale - Yorkshire Dales South East
Want a circular walk that starts and ends in Burnsall (that’s NOT the other circular walk we have above…or the OTHER one below… we do love Burnsall!) This one will take you to Appletreewick and back!
Why? BECAUSE! (It’s nothing to do with the fact it has 2 pubs….. one with a set of stocks outside for the kids…. SORRY. NOT for the kids…. Nothing at all.)
And go on, pronounce Appletreewick. Nope. It’s actually Ap’trick. (Personally, I prefer using the full name, but don’t tell the locals!)
Trollers Gill
⭐⭐ Little Adventurers
📍 Skyreholme, Wharfedale
🚘🎒🥾💦🌳🐶
📏 3 miles there and back again (ish)
Whenever anybody asks me for recommendations as to where to walk in Wharfedale if I only had one chance. I say Trollers Gill. No, it doesn’t have waterfalls (unless you class that one Helen Skelton ‘dipped’ in, on that walking programme she did - I say more like a puddle than a plunge pool!) and it’s not the biggest limestone gorge in the Yorkshire Dales.
But is does have the best legends, mining history, atmosphere and awesomeness of any of the gorges out there. So I right like it.
(Yes, you CAN have the best awesomeness. Totally a thing)
Burnsall to Hebden Circular
📍 Burnsall to Hebden Circular
⭐⭐⭐ Superstar Hikers
📏 Circular walk 3.5 - 4 miles
🥾🎒🚘👻🍻🍦☕🛝🧒💦🌳🐶
This super circular starts and ends at the Red Lion Pub in Burnsall. It heads past paddling spots, swim spots, the stunning Loup Scar to yet ANOTHER pub or a fantastic tearoom in Hebden, it has a teeny tiny play area and a ridiculously tall slide!
It’s a good ‘un!
(Only a superstar hikers because there is a section of path that has an exposed side, so it just tipped over on the terrain angle!)
Conistone Dib and Pie
📍 Conistone, Yorkshire Dales National Park
⭐⭐ Little Adventurers
📏 Circular walk 3 miles
🥾🎒🚘🌳🐶 🚌
This walk is a budding scramblers dream, with a very simply rocky gorge to explore, the craggy outcrop of Conistone Pie and all in a super circular from Conistone!
(Disclaimer, the Pie is not edible. I repeat NOT edible)
Kettlewell
Walks in and around the Kettlewell area of Wharfedale
Kettlewell to Starbotton
📍 Kettlewell, Upper Wharfedale
⭐⭐ Little Adventurers
🥾🎒🚘💦🛝☕🍦🍻🌳🚌🐶
📏 Circular walk, 4.5 miles
We love Kettlewell.
Ok, admittedly we do love a lot of places in the Yorkshire Dales, but Kettlewell really is great. And in August, you might also stumble on some scarecrows too!
This circular walk from Kettlewell to Starbotton is about 4.5 miles and starts and ends with ice cream and the park! (Oh and the pub….. three pubs!)
There are paddle spots and it’s dog friendly too!
Kettlewell Stepping Stones
📍 Kettlewell, Upper Wharfedale, The Yorkshire Dales
⭐⭐ Little Adventurers
🚘🥾💦🍻🍦☕🛝🌳🐶🚌
📏 2 miles circular walk
Did I mention that we love Kettlewell?! This perfectly petite walk will take you on a short walk to the stepping stones and back. It’s a great walk for a Summer’s Day with places to get down to the water’s edge to splash!
Oh and OF COURSE there’s ice cream and the park!
Great Whernside
📍 Kettlewell, The Yorkshire Dales National Park
⭐⭐⭐ Superstar Hikers
🥾🚘🎒🛝☕🍦🍻💦🌳🚌🐶
📏 5 - 8 miles circular (there are two routes, a longer and shorter version)
Not to be confused with THE Whernside, Great Whernside sits overlooking Kettlewell and is the 6th highest Yorkshire Peak. These two walks will take you past the highest chapel in England, the shorter route past the ruins of a Smelt Mill, the longer, past an ancient fort and it has perfect paddling spots, Ice Cream, a park and PUBS!
Packs it in right?
Oh, and it’ll have you bagging a proper mountain. A Nuttall, a trig and one of the Dales 30!
Halton Gill, Littondale
⭐⭐ Little Adventurers
📍 Littondale, near Wharfedale, Central Yorkshire Dales
🎒🚘🥾💦🌳🐶
📏 2 miles
This circular walk was born out of my desire to visit a movie location! So if you want a dose of Hollywood, coupled with a heavy hit of Yorkshire Dales phwoar in a super quiet location? This one’s for you!
Litton Stepping Stones and Scoska Cave
📍 Litton, Littondale The Yorkshire Dales National Park
⭐⭐/⭐⭐⭐ Short circular: Little Adventurers Full Cave: Superstar Hikers
🚘🥾💦✨🌳🐶
📏 2/ 3.5 miles
Finding a hidden cave is a TRUE adventure and this walk will take you right to it!
Don’t like caves? This walk can be adapted to be a fab little stepping stones circular too!
Hubberholme to Yockenthwaite
⭐⭐ Little Adventurers
📍 Hubberholme, Langstrothdale
💦🎒🌳🍻🥾🐶
📏 3.5 miles
Every time we do this walk I am reminded why I love it so much! Langstrothdale is just off the top of Upper Wharfedale and leads you to the furthest reaches of the dale. It’s beautiful.
This walk has scrambles, splashes and a top pub at the end! (Sorry kids!)
Buckden Pike, Upper Wharfedale
⭐⭐⭐ Superstar Hikers
🚘🥾💦🎒🍻🌳🚌🐶
📏 7 miles
📍 Buckden, Upper Wharfedale, the Yorkshire Dales
Ok. I’ll level with you. At over 700m, Buckden Pike is the 7th highest peak in the Yorkshire Dales, so this one is NOT for the faint hearted!!
But, as far as the Yorkshire Dales mountains go, Buckden Pike is up there as being one of the most kid friendly. And it’s also one of our favourite (the kids have now climbed it five times!)
So you’re in it for the long haul, but what can you expect from the walk from Buckden? Lead mine ruins, a top ten peak in the bag and if you have the energy, waterfalls too!
Buckden Beck Waterfalls
⭐ Little Monkeys
🎒🚘🥾💦🍻🌳🚌🐶
📍 Buckden, Upper Wharfedale
📏 less than 1 mile linear walk there and back.
This walk is a very short walk to the Buckden Beck Waterfalls, but for less than 1 mile, you will get LOADS of waterfall action! We love this walk and it is one of our go to wanders for an end of the day paddle if we are in the area!
Cow Close Waterfalls, Cray Gill
⭐⭐ Little Adventurers
🎒🚘🥾💦🍻🌳🚌🐶
📍 Cray, Upper Wharfedale. The Yorkshire Dales.
📏 4.5 miles linear walk OR less than a mile.
A waterfall for a true explorer!
This little gem of a find is located in plain sight in Upper Cray. We would recommend walking this from Buckden. There is a small amount of layby parking nearby if you can get there, but do not block roads or access!
Cray Gill Waterfalls, Upper Wharfedale
⭐⭐⭐ Superstar Hikers
📍 Buckden/Cray, Upper Wharfedale
💦🎒🥾🚘🌳🚌🐶
📏 5 miles circular
There are 11ty billion waterfalls on this walk. Fact.
Ok, I got the kids to count, but there are so many wonderful waterfalls to spot that 11ty billion isn’t a bad shout and for only 5 miles, that’s a lot of waterfalls per mile!
It’s also got 3 pubs…. that’s a pretty decent ratio too in my opinion….
Skipton and Bolton Abbey
Walks in and around the Skipton and Bolton Abbey Area
Beamsley Beacon
⭐⭐ Little Adventurers
🚘🥾🎒🌳✨
📍 Langbar, near Addingham, Yorkshire Dales National Park.
📏 1-2 miles linear there and back
This is a gorgeous trig point walk for younger explorers. There’s not much in terms of length, but there are views to DIE for. So basically, maximum impact for very little effort!
There’s also some cool history and a tragic tale to go with this walk, so a lot to talk about for under 1.5miles.
Embsay Crag
⭐⭐⭐ Superstar Hikers
📍 Embsay, near Skipton, North Yorkshire
🚘🎒🥾💦🌳🐶
📏 3 miles linear
This is a short little peak bagging walk, which overlooks Embsay Reservoir! Take a short wander off the path and you’ll find the remains of the old weir, that creates a pretty little waterfall!
Embsay Reservoir
⭐ Little Monkeys
📍 Embsay near Skipton
🎒🚘🧒🌳🚌🐶
📏 1 mile
This is a fabulously short reservoir walk perfect for the youngest kids! With bugs to spot and a play park in the village too what’s not to love?!
Lower and Upper Barden Reservoirs
⭐⭐⭐ Superstar Hikers
📍 Bolton Abbey Estate, The Yorkshire Dales
🥾🚘🎒🌳
📏 5.5 miles circular
This walk takes you around both of the stunning reservoirs on Barden Moor, overlooking the Bolton Abbey Estate, it’s wild and it’s remote.
With views to die for!
Staying in the Wharfedale area?
We have a Visit with Kids guide to provide you with all the family friendly inspiration you need! Think family friendly walks, local attractions and importantly, where to find the ice cream (and the play park!)
We have a dedicated guide for families staying in Wharfedale, so why not check it out!
Scroll using the arrows for all our Family Friendly Walks
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![Swimming in Janet's Foss Yorkshire Dales]()
Waterfall Walks
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![Malham cove walk for kids]()
Pushchair Friendly
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![Pinhaw Beacon trig point walk near Skipton]()
Peak Bagging Walks
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![The Park at Greenhow Nidderdale]()
Walks with Play Parks
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![Gordale Scar in Malham Yorkshire Dales]()
Organised by Location
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![Walking in the woodland in Wensleydale]()
Woodland Walks
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![Playing on the shore of Embsay Reservoir Yorkshire Dales]()
Reservoir Walks
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![The ruins of Bolton Abbey]()
Bolton Abbey Estate Walks
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![Leaping over the stile at Almscliffe Crag]()
Walks Under 2 Miles
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![Child walking into a pub in Appletreewick]()
Walks with Pubs and Cafes
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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.