How to plan a gentle walk through the Yorkshire Dales

Pick a route that suits your legs, not your ego

The Yorkshire Dales has a reputation for big days out — the Three Peaks, the Pennine Way — and that can put people off entirely. It needn't. Some of the finest walking in the national park is short, low-level and mercifully flat, and nobody at the tea room counter will ask for a list of summits before they serve you.

Start with a valley-bottom route and let the scenery do the work. Around Malham, the walk to Janet's Foss is about a mile each way along a gentle riverside path, with a waterfall at the end. Grassington to Linton Falls is a similar out-and-back beside the Wharfe. Near Aysgarth, the woodland paths by the falls are wide and mostly level, and Buckden to Hubberholme gives you two easy miles along the river. The Reeth to Grinton stretch is barely a mile and perfect for a first outing.

Use OS Explorer maps OL2 or OL30 to check distance and climb before you set off. Allow an hour per two miles on gentle ground, plus half an hour for every hundred metres of ascent.

Time your day around the weather and the light

The Dales has its own microclimate. Forecasts for the valleys and the tops can differ wildly, so check a hill-specific forecast as well as a general one, and assume the weather will arrive half an hour earlier than predicted.

Start in the morning. Valley mist often lingers until ten or eleven, then lifts beautifully, and afternoon showers usually blow through in twenty minutes. In winter, plan to be back at the car by three and carry a torch regardless.

Tell someone your route and roughly when you expect to return. Phone signal is patchy at best, and non-existent in several of the prettier valleys. A paper map and a compass weigh almost nothing and never lose charge.

Kit that earns its place in your rucksack

Gentle walkers tend to fall into two camps: those who take nothing and regret it, and those who take everything and regret the weight. Aim for the middle.

• Boots with proper grip. Even flat-looking paths are muddy, stony or slick near waterfalls.
• A real waterproof jacket and over-trousers. Dales rain is fine, persistent and arrives sideways.
• Spare socks and a spare layer in a dry bag. Wet feet end walks early.
• Water and a flask. A litre per person for a short day, more in summer.
• Snacks — something oaty, something chocolatey, ideally both.
• Map, compass and a charged phone, plus sun cream and midge repellent in summer.
• Walking poles if your knees complain on descents. They look faintly ridiculous and they work.

Gates, stiles and the quiet rules of the countryside

Almost every Dales walk involves a gate, a stile, a wall gap or a kissing gate, and each one is somebody's livelihood as well as your route. Follow the Countryside Code and you will be welcome back.

• Leave gates as you find them. Open if open, closed if closed. If a gate is tied shut, it is shut for a reason.
• Use stiles and gaps rather than climbing walls. Dry stone walls take real skill to build and real money to repair.
• Keep to the footpath across farmland, especially over hay meadows and growing crops.
• Take everything home, including banana skins and orange peel, which take years to rot in upland conditions.
• Say hello. Farmers, dog walkers and fellow ramblers will almost always nod back. It is the easiest way to be a good visitor.

Sheep, cattle and dogs on leads

You will meet livestock, and plenty of it. Sheep treat a footpath as their own living room, and ewes with lambs can be surprisingly defensive. Give animals a wide berth, walk quietly past rather than through, and never feed them — human food makes sheep ill. If cattle approach, let go of your dog, stay calm and walk steadily away rather than running.

Between 1 March and 31 July, dogs must be on a short lead on open access land and on most footpaths, to protect ground-nesting birds and lambs. Even outside those dates, keep a lead handy. Always bag and remove dog mess — leaving it in a bag on a wall is a particular Dales irritant.

Refreshments, rest stops and knowing when to turn back

The best-planned gentle walk includes a proper stop. Most Dales villages have a pub, a café or a shop, and nearly all of them welcome muddy boots provided you wipe them first. Grassington, Kettlewell, Reeth, Hawes and Bainbridge all have somewhere decent to sit down.

Build that stop into your plan rather than treating it as a bonus, and set a turnaround time before you leave the car. The classic mistake is pressing on to see what is round the next bend, then facing a longer return than your legs signed up for.

If the weather turns, someone in the group is struggling, or the light is going, turn back. The hill will still be there next weekend, and the Dales rewards repeat visits. A gentle day done well — a short riverside path, a flask of tea, a dry stone wall catching the afternoon sun — is the whole point.