Climb the Yorkshire Dales Mountains with Kids
Welcome to the second instalment of Nuttall bagging in the Yorkshire Dales with the Kids…
All in one year…
Yes, this is part two, if you’d like to start at the very beginning (because it’s a very good place to begin) then head to our Mountain Bagging with the Kids Part I page! In Part I I covered the first 7 walks, now it’s time for the next 8! We began the challenge in March 2024 and having got off to a decent start, the weather in Spring was NOT co-operative. Not even a little bit!
If anybody remembers the Summer of 2023 (the one with all the rain) by the time Spring 2024 had arrived, it felt like all we had been treated to for a solid 9 months was rain. Constant rain. Except in April 2024, the weather gods decided to chuck in a good old helping of wind too, which totally scuppered a few planned mountain weekends. But fast forwards from the utter shambles that was Drumaldrace (more rain) and we end up in May, where the weather was only slightly less than unpleasant. So off we popped to bag a few more Yorkshire Dales Nuttalls! .
(You can read more about the planning process on the Yorkshire Dales Mountain Challenge page)
The Calf and the Howgills
27 May 2024
The Calf, Calders, Bram Rigg Top, Great Dummacks
The one with the extra ones and the cloud.
The Calf and buddies…
The one that we had tried and tried again to bag, involving two wasted overnight trips (ouch) and two perfectly (or not so perfectly as it were) named storms. So when there was a general glimmer of… well let’s face it, NOT perpetual rain and storm strength wind, we seized the opportunity!
I’ll be honest, this was a walk that I was REALLY looking forward to. I blummin’ love the Howgills, they are up there as one of my favourite places in the Yorkshire Dales National Park because of the stunning views and their totally unique geology (Wainwright described them as resembling sleeping elephants). But on this day, well it was very 50/50 as to whether we’d get any views, and as it turned out, we did not.
Check out the picture. That’s the trig point (Ordnance Survey triangulation pillar) at the summit of the Calf. And the faces? Totally freezing wind and rain, cloud cover and the general fed up-ness that comes with it being nearly June and STILL no glimmer off Summer! Still, at least it wasn’t the WHOLE way round. To put this in perspective, we definitely lucked out. On the same day, Ingleborough had so much rain it managed to close off the Gaping Gill winch because of the beck flooding!
It was also the walk where we tagged on a couple of those extra ones that that dude of the internet said should be included, and it was ALSO the one where we said….. SURELY that can’t be a separate peak on a couple of occasions… but who am I to judge eh?!
The Calf et al: The Route
This one was not the route I had fully planned.
We had done a reccy earlier in the year to Cautley Spout to make sure the kids could tackle what is an incredibly steep and exposed descent down the waterfall (one of the aborted overnights when we had planned to bag The Calf the first time) so my plan was to descend there and walk back to Sedbergh. Sadly, with the weather playing with us, I opted to play it safe, which really is the only decision to make on top of a big old mountain who was feeling a little bit moody, with kids (also moody).
So we headed from Joss Lane Car Park, up to Arant Haw, onto Calders and then The Calf (to try and beat the weather… but we did not). After summiting (and eating a very swift lunch in the storm shelter, it was back to Bram Rigg Top (definitely NOT a top) Great Dummacks… also questionably a ‘summit’ and then we bagged Crook (not a mountain, but a bigger cairn than either of the last two) just for luck.
And by then, the sun had come out. Typical.
ROUTE NOTES: Decent navigation skills are a must to make sure you’ve hit all the tops and safely navigate yourself down via Crook (where there is no technical ‘path’)
Image is copyright of Ordnance Survey and always carry a fully detailed OS Explorer map with you.
The Calf et al Challenge Facts:
Distance Walked: 14.44km
Total time spent walking: 4hours 51 minutes
The Calf Summit Height: 676m
Total Actual Ascent: 800m
Ranked: 16th in the Yorkshire Dales
This was the ‘top’ of Bram Rigg Top. Now you’ll understand why we thought it wasn’t that ‘toppy’.
A glimmer of sunshine!
The top of Great Dummacks. That’s us, also looking for the top…
Calf Top
29 May 2024
The one that made itself a mountain
I Like Calf Top.
I don’t like its bog, which was so sucky it sucked off a sole from one of our boots (don’t worry, it was on the way out anyway… but STILL!).
I love the Calf Top story.
This fell (for we are in Cumbria after all) wasn’t originally thought to be technically tall enough to be a ‘Mountain’ when it fell short of the 610m benchmark. Then, when technology improved and it was remeasured, it just made the cut at 610m. So in 2016, a mountain was born, coincidentally the same year as my own monster was born. So Calf Top feels a little bit like one of the family. (I also imagine it slightly breathing in and lifting its heels when it was measured the second time, like the kids do when we do the height chart…)
And this one had a trig, which always improves a top. And it’s decorated too, which the kids loved.
Calf Top: The Route
This was a certain out and back-er from the beginning.
There was an option of a very temping circular walk down the track from the Calf Top trig to Mill House, but a bit of research showed that there was in fact no way to join the public right of way from the bottom of the open access fell and there was apparently some angry signage (presumably from the residents of Mill House) and a padlocked gate to meet you at the bottom, which is far from ideal!
In the alternative, there is a very steep descent to Barbondale from just beyond the summit of Calf Top. Whilst the draw of a satisfying circular was great, this descent looked incredibly steep and left a good chunk of the return route on the road. Again, far from ideal with the kids.
So an out and back it was (AGAIN!)
But hey ho, what this walk was lacking in circular-ness it made up for in views. It was just a shame that we had to hop the same massive expanse of bog TWICE!
And we parked at the pub, so that was nice too!
Image is copyright of Ordnance Survey
The cairn at Castle Knott
Calf Top Challenge Facts:
Distance Walked: 11.62 km
Total time spent walking: 3 hours 36 minutes
Calf Top Summit Height: 610m
Total Actual Ascent: 637m
Ranked: 39th highest Nuttall in the Yorkshire Dales (or 41st if you count the other list)
Looking out from the ascent towards the Lakes and the sea
The summit trig
Great Knoutberry Hill
30/5/2024
The one with cracking views
Great Knoutberry Hill sits above Dentdale
And was an absolutely stunning CIRCULAR walk (HOORAY!)
The continued quest for a satisfying circular was not an easy one so far on the Dales Nuttalls (plus two more that dude off the internet included) challenge and so far, we had managed to achieve a whole four. This walk was excellent for many reasons, although not without its logistical challenges as was turning out to be the norm in these far flung parts of the Dales.
But check out those pictures. It was SUNNY! And only slightly windy! Which at walk number 10, where we had dodged quite a lot of shoddy weather so far, was a welcome relief!
Great Knoutberry has a lot going for it and is one we shall return to (mainly because it has a trig and we are now bagging all the trigs in the Yorkshire Dales too!)
Never a dull moment eh?
Great Knoutberry Hill Route
Look at that lovely circular!
We parked on Coal road near Dent Train Station (parking there is reserved for rail users only) There is a small area of hardstanding next to the road (not a passing place, I might add) but there is actually also a small amount of parking further along the road where Coal road meets the Pennine Way.
Both meant an unwelcome up at the end of the walk, but parking was a challenge on this one!
There was a decent chunk of road walking too, but the roads were super quiet, so it wasn’t really a huge issue.
In terms of paths, it wasn’t actually the hardest to navigate! After coming off the Pennine way to start the ascent to the trig point, the path was mostly clear all the way up, as per usual a bit of bog to negotiate, but not at all the worst!
Navigation Note: I say wasn’t the hardest, as the path handrails the fence all the way up, but make sure you take your map with you!
Image is copyright of Ordnance Survey
The final ascent to Great Knoutberry trig point with views towards the Lake District
Great Knoutberry Hill Challenge Facts:
Distance Walked: 10.67km
Total time spent walking: 2 hours 59 minutes
Calf Top Summit Height: 672m
Total Actual Ascent: 482m
Ranked: 20th highest Nuttall in the Yorkshire Dales
The return path to Dent heads under the Arten Gill Viaduct
The view looking towards Wild Boar Fell (the one with the pointed profile) and Baugh Fell
Whernside
1/6/2024
The biggest one
The Big One. Whernside
Whernside was not a new one to us and our tried and tested Whernside circular route was our go to. We like to go…. CLOCKWISE. I know sharp intake of breath from those who love the Yorkshire Three Peaks route.
Firstly, and perhaps controversially, Whernside is probably not even in my top five favourites peaks in the Yorkshire Dales. THE HORROR! Of the Yorkshire Thee Peaks, it’s my least favourite and I find that the Y3P route is just a long old slog.
One of the reasons that I always start the Yorkshire Three Peaks challenge with Whernside (purists… calm down) is that it gets the worst one out the way and saves the best until last!
But, there are LOADS of things to like about Whernside, Force Gill, the stunning waterfall on the side of it is unrivalled by the other Y3P candidates, the views from the top are amazing (despite it’s slightly sad looking trig) it has a spectacular start at the Ribblehead viaduct AND it has one of my favourite pubs in the Yorkshire Dales, the Station Inn.
So let’s crack on with that route eh?
Whernside Route
Well aren’t we on a roll with the lovely circular walks eh? I’m beginning to think my earlier pessimism was not well founded at all!
We have walked Whernside by all available (and sensible) routes and by far my favourite is to tackle the steep up first, by heading along to Broadrake from Ribblehead first.
This achieves two things. It gives you a short and sweet up rather than a long LONG up and if you’re in luck, the ice cream van will be sat at the bottom of the steep climb to provide ice cream energy (peak season only).
The only downside is that you have to keep out of the way of all the oncoming Y3Pers who will be doing it the opposite way round! That said, if you do it on a weekday in school holidays, you might actually be ok!
If you love a little waterfall dip, Force Gill is excellent and is perfectly positioned three quarters of the way around and nearly at the bottom. The perfect refresh before tackling that last stretch back to Ribblehead (and to the pub!)
Image is copyright of Ordnance Survey
The perfectly place ice cream van at the foot of the ascent.
Whernside Challenge Facts:
Distance Walked: 14.87km
Total time spent walking: 5 hours 4 minutes
Whernside Summit Height: 736m
Total Actual Ascent: 570m
Ranked: 1st, the highest Nuttall in the Yorkshire Dales
Force Gill waterfall on the side of Whernside
The Ribblehead Viaduct, the walk starts by heading under the huge arches.
Dodd Fell Hill
11/6/24
Great Views…
Dodd Fell Hill, heard of it?
Probably not. I’d never heard of it until we started this challenge! Dodd Fell Hill overlooks Oughtershaw in the uppermost reaches of Langstrothdale and is quite frankly a long way from anywhere, with its nearest town being Hawes.
There really isn’t much of a walk to be made out of it either unless you are creating one of those absolute beasts of a Dales Nuttall bagging walks that are far too long for any reasonable kid to achieve.
And when we do this one again for our trig bagging mission, we will be doing it slightly differently…
Dodd Fell Hill Route
Aaaaaannnnd we’re back to the out and back again walks.
This is one that we’d do differently when we do it again simply because the walk from Fleet Moss parking area is dull. It mainly heads along the old Roman Road, where it turned out that there was a parking area, as you turn off to join the Pennine Way (my bad on the planning front!)
Given there really isn’t any lovely bite-sized way to do it, in future we’ll simply drive to the parking area and make it a short and sweet 4km out and back and tie it in with a trip over to the very lovely Hawes to hit the ice cream parlour and the park!!
Navigation Note: This is a trickier one to navigate, as you are off the main Pennine slog and on open fell. That said there is a vague trodden path to follow to the trig. Be prepared for off path navigation.
Image is copyright of Ordnance Survey
The descent from Dodd Fell Hill.
Dodd Fell Hill Challenge Facts
Distance Walked: 11.77km
Total time spent walking: 3 hours 9 minutes
Dodd Fell Summit Height: 668m
Total Actual Ascent: 194m
Ranked: 23rd in the Yorkshire Dales
The view on the descent from Dodd Fell Hill. For such an obscure peak, it’s views are pretty spectacular. Here you are looking towards Snaizeholme Fell in the foreground, Great Knoutberry is lurking to the right and then on to the Howgills and beyond!
The floof flowers of Dodd Fell Hill (cottongrass) and the trig beyond. This gives you an indication of the type of path you are following.
Fountains Fell and Darnbrook
21/7/2024
And a slightly underwhelming friend…
Look at the Trig Point on Darnbrook huh?!
I still cannot fathom how that much erosion has occurred on such a little visited trig. But it makes for an ENOURMOUS tower to sit on when you bag the fell, which makes up for Fountains Fell South Top, which was very much another…. WHAT? Moment.
I’m guessing it must be the fact that it’s pretty exposed and that the wind and rain have simply washed away the soft earth that once surrounded it, but yeah. Makes for quite the spectacle doesn’t it?!
I actually really liked this walk! If we weren’t bagging the Nuttall’s we almost certainly wouldn’t have bothered going to the South Top, which is the least toppy of tops we’ve encountered (amongst some more… I guess at least it had a tiny pile of stones to celebrate its’ summit. Unlike some others I can think of!)
But the big old cairn on Fountains Fell is worth a visit, along with it’s cool series of cairns on its approach. Darnbrook is simply showing off its trig point and we actually made this into another satisfying circular. So yes, I’m looking forward to paying Darnbrook another visit on our trig bagging challenge.
Ooh and did I mention the STUNNING views across to Pen y ghent who is Fountain’s Fell’s neighbour? Worth it to see that alone!
Fountains Fell and Darnbrook Route
A little figure of eight style walk now! If you look at the map, you can see that there is a big label saying ‘Mine Workings’
This is because the fell used to be worked as a mine, starting waaaaaaaaay back when the monks of Fountains Abbey used to own the fell (hence the name - fun fact). But what you do need to be aware of is that there are actually a fair few exposed shafts left over - the dangerous ones are fenced off, but the route is waymarked just in case, so stick to the route here!
Beyond, the stretch between Darnbrook and Fountains is pretty boggy, but on the scale of bog we encountered on this challenge, it wasn’t TOO bad. To bag the trig point, required a little hop over a low fence (it’s on access land, so don’t worry, just don’t damage it!)
Then we headed straight down, hugging the boundary line following a trodden path (not featured on the map) which took us out to the lovely track that heads back to the road.
Really enjoyed this one, would recommend!
Navigation Notes: Lots of perimeter handrailing on this walk and lots of off piste hiking. The paths are trodden, but I’d say only by those seeking to bag the Nuttalls.
Image is copyright of Ordnance Survey
The cairn of Fountains Fell
Fountains Fell and Darnbrook Challenge Facts
Distance Walked: 12.52km
Total time spent walking: 3 hours 46 minutes
Fountains Fell, South Top and Darnbrook Summit Heights: 668m, 662m, 624m
Total Actual Ascent: 348m
Ranked: 24th, 26th, and 24th in the Yorkshire Dales
A ruined building near Fountains Fell South Top
Attempting to climb the trig point
Great Shunner Fell
24/7/2024
It was all going so well… until
Great Shunner Fell is near Hawes
This was a route that was a little less than successful… full of good intention, but thwarted by a landowner who decided to build a fence across the path (more about that in the route information!)
It was a little bit of a shame because everything was going so well until that point, but when we hit it, we were well past the point of no return. The ACTUAL HORROR when I was alone with the kids! But we made it, and it’s one the kids say they will never do again (except they will… for the trig bagging challenge!….) Certainly it’s a route that I will never do again (even though - hopefully - the fence has been taken down).
Great Shunner is a biggun though! Third highest in the Yorkshire Dales National Park and on the Pennine Way with a trig summit seat! At least it has a good top, even if ultimately, it will be done again as an out and back.
Great Shunner Fell Route
Do not recommend! Here’s the story…
In my quest for a satisfying circular and my love for being a bit rogue and going off path, I thought that creating this circular would be ace. There was only a small portion of the route on open moorland and in reality there were some tracks to follow so it was going really well until…
We hit the bridleway. Yes, the off path navigation was actually pretty straightforward and easy going, but the ACTUAL right of way? Blummin’ nightmare.
So the plan was to meet the top of the bridleway at Fossdale Moss (this is on Open Access Land where there is a legal right to roam as long as you are sticking to the countryside code). Now we walked this one well outside of ground nesting bird season, so I was happy for a little trudge over the moor to meet the bridleway, but as we descended on a clear track towards the top of it, we were met with a NO PUBLIC ACCESS sign.
Being very aware of the fact that I am perfectly within my rights to be joining the bridleway and PROW from open fell and access land, I soldiered on in the hope that this was simply a warning to those who were mistakenly following the 4×4 track, which does end in private land, with no way to access a path from there.
You’ll see from the map that we did indeed land upon the public bridleway, not that you would have any idea that it was there, because there was no evidence of it on the ground.
Presumably because further on there was a great big old fence build right across it.
Now, this is not ideal when you have two young kids who are on the home straight of a pretty huge walk. Not at ALL ideal. But thankfully, mother nature had thwarted the illegal boundary plans and provided us with a handy landslip which had taken out the ground underneath a section. So underneath we popped (even though I was riled, I refuse to cause damage to somebody else’s fence).
Despite our lucky escape, we were greeted with THE most overgrown path I have ever encountered. In fact I say path by name only, because this path was no path… it was a full on bush-whacking affair!
In short, there were tears. It was HARD going, they were tired, as was I and quite frankly, the efforts of the landowner to make this THE MOST unpleasant stretch of a right of way EVER did not go unnoticed (there was some seething).
And to put insult to injury (there were a LOT of scratched legs) upon emerging at the end of said ‘bridleway’ there was a lovely sign to justify that I had NOT lost my mind, this path SHOULD have existed, the blummin’ thing EVEN HAS A PROPER NAME!
This rant has clearly reignited the vitriol I at the end of the walk…. maybe I’ll go back to make sure that fence HAS been taken down…
(You’ll be relieved to know that this is the only rant in this series!)
Image is copyright of Ordnance Survey
The approach to the summit of Great Shunner
Great Shunner Fell Challenge Facts
Distance Walked: 16.86km
Total time spent walking: 5 hours 3 minutes
Great Shunner Summit Height: 716m
Total Actual Ascent: 521m
Ranked: 3rd in the Yorkshire Dales
Nearing the top. The excellent views from the top were overshadowed by the downhill experience. But they are AMAZING.
THE fence. There was a large enough gap underneath to squeeze without causing any damage.
The ‘bridleway’. Not an easy ride when you’re 8.
Yockenthwaite Moor
26/7/2024
Bring on the Hags
Yockenthwaite Moor
Not going to lie, this one was not tickling my enthusiasm tastebuds! I’d researched all of the peaks when I was planning the challenge and I’ll admit Yockenthwaite Moor did not fill me with any enthusiasm at all.
I’d read about peat hags, extensive bog and lack of any kind of path and that just felt like a LOT to deal with! So we left it until the Summer (of a pretty wet and cold year) when we’d not had rain for a little while (only a LITTLE while) and we took the shortest out and back I could find.
Yockenthwaite Moor felt moor like a mission with a purpose than a walk. But do you know what…? I didn’t hate it!
Yockenthwaite Moor Route
Ok, let’s just move on past Great Shunner shall we?
This one I had no great hopes for, but actually really enjoyed. It was almost entirely off path, and some of the going underfoot was tiring, but it wasn’t too bad. And I was expecting bad.
Peat hags are also weird. I’ve actually (and rather randomly) read up a bit on bogs. Whilst we curse them and find them annoying, they’re actually wonderful things. Clever things. And they/re a part of out planet that need to be cared for. They contain more Carbon the ALL of the world’s forests combined and they only cover 3% of the world.
So I say, be more bog.
From my reading is seems like the existence of ‘peat hags’ is down to the human influence on the bog. Peat was used for fuel and commercially for gardens, so the cutting of the peat from the moor was commonplace. It’s not any more though, and we are left with a little insight into people’s impact on the world and how long that impact takes to restore.
Peat is created through the decay of mosses and plant life over thousands of years… it’s a good job we stopped blummin cutting the stuff out!
Anyway. The peat hags of Yockenthwaite remain pretty epic. They are ENOURMOUS in places and I would 100% not tackle this walk in any other season unless it’s been ridiculously dry.
At least it wasn’t boring eh?
I would recommend this route up Yockenthwaite. It’s short and it keeps the arduous bog hopping to a minimum. Plus I love Langstrothdale, and would highly recommend the George Inn if you are in the area! The kids love the dog there!
Image is copyright of Ordnance Survey
The path up (and down for that matter!) This is the clear and obvious bit… the rest is left up to you!
Yockenthwaite Moor Challenge Facts
Distance Walked: 7.7km
Total time spent walking: 2 hours 41 minutes
Yockenthwaite Summit Height: 643m
Total Actual Ascent: 420m
Ranked: 29th in the Yorkshire Dales
The Yockenthwaite Moor trig point
The route up from Yockenthwaite. I’d say path, but there is none!
Leaping over some of the bog
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