The Yorkshire Dales Cycleway – a wild and rugged adventure

Dry-stone wall-lined lanes, sweeping moors, gushing waterfalls, sleepy farms, and limestone cliffs – there is no place quite like Yorkshire.

This Collection guides you through this magnificent region along the Yorkshire Dales Cycleway. Ending and finishing in Skipton, this circular route will take you to some of the best spots in the Dales in seven stages.

Ranging in length from 16.2 miles (26.2 km) to 26.2 miles (42.3 km), each stage is suitable for most levels of riders. However, riding in Yorkshire is tough. You will climb 12,762 feet (3,890 metres) in total, with up to 2,657 feet (810 metres) elevation gain in one day. If summiting hills comes naturally to you, you can easily combine the routes to challenge yourself further. Alternatively, some of the stages can be enjoyed as individual day rides; stages 2, 3 and 5 end close to a train station.

As the Yorkshire Cycleway follows along rural lanes almost the whole way, any bike is suitable, even your roadie. Just make sure it has low enough gearing to handle the hills, and pack light.

You will find many eateries en route to keep you fuelled for the hills. The Yorkshire Cycleway will take you to the home of Wensleydale cheese, as well as plenty of friendly pubs where you can tuck into a Sunday roast with a Yorkshire pudding. If you get thirsty, you can stop for a pint at the Tan Hill Inn. At 1,732 feet (528 metres) above sea level, it’s Britain’s highest pub.

A national park since 1954, the Yorkshire Dales has extraordinary natural beauty. You will explore wild and rugged landscapes such as open heather moorland and limestone cliffs via a network of quiet lanes that are ideal for cycling. The area has become a cycling-mecca in the UK and even hosts an annual road race the Tour de Yorkshire at the beginning of May.

Summer is the best season to explore Yorkshire’s magnificent countryside. Although you can cycle the route all year-round, riding from June to August increases your chance of avoiding the rain.

People from Yorkshire are proud of their county, and rightly so. Over the centuries, locals have rebelled multiple times against non-Yorkshire and Northern rulers, from the Norman era to the Wars of the Roses and beyond. You will ride through some of this history as you visit ruined abbeys, medieval castles and historic villages.

The circular route starts and ends in Skipton, a friendly town with the Dales on its doorstep. A popular base for exploring the area, Skipton has a wide range of accommodation, as well as cafes, restaurants, pubs and independent shops. With direct rail connections with Leeds, Bradford and Carlisle, you can reach the town by train.

For more information about visiting Yorkshire, visit: yorkshire.com
For train tickets and timetables, visit: thetrainline.com/stations/skipton