Yorkshire Dales Road Trip 🚗⛰️🏞️

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This scenic road trip through the beautiful Yorkshire Dales National Park is packed with natural wonders, charming villages, and historic landmarks.

Yorkshire Dales Road Trip Itinerary Summary

📍 Ripon
📍 Fountains Abbey
📍 Grassington
📍 Kettlewell
📍 Aysgarth Falls
📍 Bolton Castle
📍 Thwaite
📍 Buttertubs Pass
📍 Hawes
📍 Ribblehead Viaduct
📍 White Scar Cave
📍 Ingleton Waterfalls Walk
📍 Gaping Gill
📍 Malham Cove
📍 Bolton Abbey

Bonus Stop: 📍 Pendragon Castle

Total Distance: 🚗 Approx. 125 miles

📸 Photos & Info are located further down. Keep scrolling to see all these places. ⬇️

This Yorkshire Dales Road Trip is perfect for nature lovers and history enthusiasts. 🌿🏰📸

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Additional Information and Highlights

📍 Ripon

📍 Fountains Abbey

📍 Grassington

📍 Kettlewell

📍 Aysgarth Falls

📍 Bolton Castle

📍 Thwaite

📍 Buttertubs Pass

📍 Hawes 🧀 

🅿️ Parking: At the Wensleydale Creamery

🗺️ Things To Do:

• Go to the Wensleydale Creamery. You can either opt for a tour during which you’ll learn how the cheese is made, or simply go to the shop and sample the cheese. They also have a café with an outdoor space.
• Go to Hardraw Force waterfall
• Visit the Dales Countryside Museum
• Wander around the town (there are loads of cafés, pubs and little shops)
• Drive the Buttertubs pass to Thwaite

💡 My Top Tip: Park at the creamery, it’s free, and then walk to the village from there via the Pennine Way and St Margaret’s Church (it only takes 10 minutes).

🟢 Want to know more about Hawes? Check out my Hawes Day Out Itinerary

📍 Ribblehead Viaduct 🚂

Located over the border between Cumbria and North Yorkshire, the Ribblehead Viaduct has 24 arches and is the most impressive landmark on the Settle-Carlisle railway.

🚆How to get there: One of the best way to get there is obviously with the train. Stop at the Ribblehead station.

🅿️Parking: You can find parking spots on the side of the road just past the pub.

🍺Pub: The Station Inn is a place to stop at for a drink or some food. They have a beer garden with views over the viaduct which is particularly nice in summer.

🥾From the road, it only takes 10 minutes to get to the viaduct (½ mile). It’s a dirt path though so make sure you have appropriate shoes as it can get muddy.

📍 Ingleton Waterfalls Walk

📍 Gaping Gill

📍 Malham Cove 🏞️ 

A 70-metre (230ft) high limestone cliff with beautiful views and that was used as a filming location for Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows: Part 1.

🅿️Parking: There is a car park (pay and display) by the visitor centre. If you get there very early, you might be able to score a free spot on the side of the road but there are only a few. Alternatively, some fields are opened as carparks when it’s busy but it’s a flat fee for the day.

🧙Harry Potter: In the movie, you can see Harry and Hermione setting up a camp on the stones of Malham Cove.

🥾3 walk options:

• Malham Cove (there and back with quite a lot of steps though) – 3.4km, easy, 1 hour – See trail here
• Janet’s Foss, Gordale Scar & Malham Cove trail. 8 km, moderate, 2h30m – See trail here
• Malham Tarn via Gordale Scar – 12.1 km, hard – See trail here

💡 My Top Tip: I’ve done all of these hikes several times and I truly think that the 8k hike via Janet’s Foss and Gordale Scar is the best overall as it’s long enough for you to see everything, you get better views of Malham Cove than from the direct route and it’s not too hard either.

📍 Bolton Abbey