Great Knoutberry Hill (Dent to Ribblehead) walk

18.2 km (11.3 mi), with 601/636m cumulative ascent/descent. For a longer walk, see below Walk Options.

6 out of 10 with 5 hours walking time.

This fairly easy route (for a mountain walk) starts at England’s highest operational mainline station and rises steeply along a quiet road to the 500m above sea level. You then follow the Pennine Bridleway along the contour around Great Knoutberry Hill before turning left up the grassy slope to its summit at 672m above sea level (a shortcut cuts out the ascent). From the top – in good weather – you have fantastic views past Wild Boar Fell and Mallerstang into the Vale of Eden, as well as to the Yorkshire Dales peaks and some of its valleys.

A short and easy descent leads to a grassy track that skirts around the top of Wold Fell before dropping to a road. Turn easterly across to Dentdale for views of Dent Head railway viaduct, one of three seen on the route. A scenic ascent up to Blea Moor follows and you cross the moor on a good track which follows the line of the Blea Moor Railway Tunnel beneath. This very quiet stretch enchants with views of Whernside and Ingleborough, some meandering streams as well as the spoil heaps associated with the build of the tunnel and its airshafts. You then briefly share the usually busy route of the Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge, but soon enough turn off it for a scenic loop along a beck and through pastures towards and under the famous Ribblehead Viaduct.

Most of the route uses good paths or tracks, with only the stretch over the top of Great Knoutberry Hill being trackless, but even that is overly bog and tussock-free.

An out-and-back from the top of Great Knoutberry Hill along its north easterly flank (Widdale Fell) of up to 6 km each-way enables fine views into Widdale and Wensleydale, the valley of the River Ure.
The Pennine Bridleway, a waymarked Long-Distance Path, contours the flank of Great Knoutberry Hill about 150m below its summit, cutting that amount of ascent and avoiding clouds or mist in inclement weather.
A more direct route near the end along the railway line cuts 1.1 km distance but also the drama of walking underneath the famous Ribblehead Viaduct and a scenic stretch along the Winterscales Beck.

OS Landranger Map: 98 (Wensleydale & Upper Wharfedale)
OS Explorer Map: OL2 (Yorkshire Dales – Southern & Western Areas)
Harvey British Mountain Map: Yorkshire Dales
Harvey Superwalker XT25 Map: Yorkshire Dales – South West

Dent Station, map reference SD 764 875, is 344 km northwest of Charing Cross, 77 km southeast of Carlisle, 76 km north west of Leeds, 350m above sea level and in Cumbria. Ribblehead Station, map reference SD 765 789, is 8 km south of Dent Station, 315m above sea level and in North Yorkshire. Both are stations on the Leeds - Settle – Carlisle Line, with eight trains per day Mon-Sat (but only six southbound ones at Dent) and five on Sundays. Journey time to Dent is 74 minutes from Carlisle, 26 from Settle and 87 from Leeds. Ribblehead is 10 minutes closer to Leeds.

Saturday Walkers’ Club: The walk is doable as a daywalk from London with a very early start and late return.

Picnic

Station Inn - Ribblehead Low Sleights Road, Carnforth, North Yorkshire, LA6 3AS (015242 41274). The Station Inn is located 200m from the end of the walk.
Ribblehead Station Visitor Centre and Tea Room Low Sleights Road, Carnforth, North Yorkshire, LA6 3AS. The Tea Room is located on the Leeds bound platform.

Northern Glossary

beck: stream, brook; brig(g): bridge; -by: habitation; cam: bank, slope, ridge; carr: marshy woodland or shrubland; clough: narrow valley, cleft in a hillside, ravine, glen, gorge, cliff, rocky precipice; crag: steep rugged mass of rock projecting upward or outward; currick: cairn, pile of stones, often locations used to keep watch for Scottish raiders; dale: valley; -ey: island, dry area in a marshy place; fell: hill, mountain slope (especially rough moorland); firth/frith: long, narrow inlet of the sea or estuary; force/foss: waterfall, rapids; frith: area of peace, protection, safety, security; garth: small grass enclosure adjacent to a house; gate: way, street; gill/ghyll: small narrow valley or ravine; hagg: part of an area of woodland, especially on a sloping bank; holm(e): island, inland promontory, raised ground in marsh, river-meadow; how(e): barrow, small hill; hush: (Roman era) mine on steep hillside, using dammed up water to wash away topsoil and boulders, revealing the underlying lead or ore veins; ing(s): meadow(s), especially water meadow near a river; keld/kell: spring or well; kirk: church; laithe/leeath: barn, agricultural building; lang: long; ling: heather; lonning/lonnin’: lane or track, something less than a road, more rural than a street, usually short; mell: sand dunes; mire: bog; moss: bog, marsh; ness: headland, promontory; nick: shallow notch, cut or indentation on an edge or a surface; pike: spike, sharp point, peak; rake: slant, incline; rigg: ridge; scar/scaur: cliff, rocky outcrop with a steep face; seat/set(t)/side: summer pasture or dwelling place; seaves: rushes; shaw: hurdle, gate; sike/syke/sitch: small stream or gulley, gutter; stang: pole, shaft, stake, wooden bar; stoop/stowp/stoup: post, gatepost, distance marker (milestone), standing stone; -sty: ascent, ascending lane or path, narrow pathway or course; tarn: lake or pond (especially in an upland location); thorp(e)/t(h)rop: village or small settlement; thwait(e): village or small settlement; toft(s): small farmstead with enclosed land, later applied to a village or small settlement; wath: ford; whinny: gorse, furze, thorny vegetation; -wich/wick: village or settlement.

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National Rail: 03457 48 49 50 • Traveline (bus times): 0871 200 22 33 (12p/min) • TFL (London) : 0343 222 1234

Aug-24 Thomas G