P20053265210 Limestone pavement and a rainbow.		P20053275300 The descent down from Cam End.

Background

The Dales Way is an 81-mile stroll from Ilkley in the Yorkshire Dales to the shores of Lake Windermere in the Lake District. The first half of the walk follows the River Wharfe as it heads northwestwards to its watershed, and a more varied second half hops between river valleys into the Lake District.

Few long-distance paths could ever be called easy, and the Dales Way certainly is not, but there is little complexity in it. The Way can easily be split into a relaxing six or seven day's walking, with accommodation available at the end of each day, or treated as a harsher backpacking expedition over a shorter period. It would make a good training walk for harder long distance paths such as the Coast to Coast or Pennine Way, but it s a good walk on it's own.

There are three southern extensions; from Leeds, Harrogate and Bradford to Ilkley, but I have done neither of these (I walked from Leeds using a different route, following the Leeds and Liverpool canal and heading over Ilkley Moor). These extensions are covered in many of the relevant guides.

P20053255136 Bolton Abbey.		P20053255157 Barden Bridge.

The walk statistics:

 

Total duration of walk	1 days, 13 hours and 3 minutes
Stopped time	3 hours and 18 minutes
Shortest completed leg	Staveley (Stockbridge Farm) to Bowness on Solway at 6.5 miles
Longest completed leg	Sedbergh to Staveley (Stockbridge Farm) at 20.3 miles
Average distance per leg	16.36 miles

P20053295519 The view over Bowness towards Windermere.		P20053255180 The suspension bridge at Mill Bridge.

The walk in full:

	No.	From	To	Distance	Status
	1	Ilkley	Grassington	17	Completed
	2	Grassington	Swarthgill	18	Completed
	3	Swarthgill	Sedbergh	20	Completed
	4	Sedbergh	Staveley (Stockbridge Farm)	20.3	Completed
	5	Staveley (Stockbridge Farm)	Bowness on Solway	6.5	Completed

P20053275301 The footbridge over Gayle Beck.		P20053275306 The path between Gearstones and High Gayle.

Further information

If you want more details of the path, then have a look at the following book. I used this book throughout my walk, and it proved to be invaluable. It includes information on the southern extension to the path from Leeds to Ilkley if you wished to extend the walk to over one hundred miles. Please click on the image below to go to the Amazon page for this book.

There are also the following good websites about the Dales Way:

• The Dales Way Association website is a superb resource for walkers of the Way, detailing some of the publications available and route diversions.
• The Sherpa Van project webpsage on the Dales Way. A commercial site detailing the Sherpa Van service (a firm that carries your bags to your evening accommodation for you whilst you walk), it has much useful information on the Way on it's pages.
• Mick Brockhurst's superb site, including details of the Dales Way.

More Dales Way photos

P20053295481 A stream in Staveley.		P20053295485 A stream in Staveley.

P20053295508 The path heading west from Outrun Nook.		P20053295516 The path near Holme Farm.

P20053295521 The last bench on the Dales Way.		P20053295530 The view over Windermere.

P20053285369 Sedbergh Church.		P20053285380 A bridge over ther river at Birks Mill.

P20053285391 The ford near the Lune Viaduct.		P20053285398 The Lune Viaduct.

P20053285409 The River Dee on the way to Crook of Lune.		P20053285418 The River Dee at the Crook of Lune.

P20053285445 The River Mint.		P20053285458 The River Kent on the way to Bowston.

P20053285466 The River Kent at Cowan Head.		P20053275294 The view back towards Cam Houses.

P20053275319 Scow Force.		P20053275331 The River Dee to the east of Dent.

P20053275337 Dent.		P20053275357 The river in Sedbergh.

P20053265192 The River Wharfe in Grassington.		P20053265197 Grassington.

P20053265202 Limestone pavement to the north of Grassington.		P20053265206 Limestone pavement to the north of Grassington.

P20053265235 The view from New Bridge in Kettlewell.		P20053265261 The River Wharfe in Langstrothdale.

P20053265277 Swarthgill.		P20053255114 Myself by Old Bridge in Ilkley.

P20053255123 Addingham Church.		P20053255130 A building in Low Park.

P20053255178 Stepping stones near Mill Bridge.