Pen-y-ghent and Plover Hill (Horton Circular) walk

17.2 km (10.7 mi), with 559m cumulative ascent/descent. For a shorter walk, see below Walk Options.

5 out of 10 with 4 ½ hours walking time.

An ascent and descent of the distinctively shaped and often hidden-in-the-clouds Pen-y-ghent and its neighbour Plover Hill along quieter approach and return routes than the usually busy Three Peaks Route takes.

You cross the River Ribble and the Horton Beck and follow a quiet wooded lane along the beck to the open countryside, then follow farm lanes to the initial ascent up Dub Cote Scar Pasture to pick up Long Lane, an ancient trading route. An engineered path veers off and up the southerly flank of Pen-y-ghent. Halfway along, the Three Peaks Route joins and a final steep pull with some short and easy scrambling moments gets you onto the narrow plateau with its trig point and storm shelters.

Follow a wall along the quiet elongated ridge through a shallow drop to the partly boggy Plover Hill, before descending with fine views to some hills and valleys in the easterly Dales through Foxup Moor along another engineered path to a good bridleway that skirts the bottom of the hill through some wild and remote landscape. You cross the watershed back into Ribblesdale and pass through Horton Moor on the track to reach Britain’s largest natural hole with its 18m drop: Hull Pot, where the Hull Pot Beck falls and sinks to only re-emerge a couple of kilometres away at Brants Gill Head, close to Horton. From near the pot, you return to Horton along a gravel track-with-views across Ribblesdale to the Forest of Bowland and Pendle Hill.

Shortcuts follow the well-engineered but busy Three Peaks Route.

A Morning Shortcut follows the usually busy Three Peaks Route more directly up the side of Pen-y-ghent, along an engineered gravel or stone path. Cuts 2.1 km and 25m ascent.
An Afternoon Shortcut follows the usually busy Three Peaks Route more directly down Pen-y-ghent, cutting Plover Hill, Foxup Moor and the Hull Pot, this cuts 4.4 km and 70m ascent.
A Variation of the Shortcut includes Hull Pot in the shortened route, this cuts 3.7 km and 60m ascent.
On the hill plateau, an alternative route to the right of the drystone wall running between Pen-y-ghent and Plover Hill briefly provides for some protection from westerly winds. After 370m turn left through a gate to the left-hand side of the wall, as there won’t be another crossing point after that (i.e. ignore the gate ahead).
Bus Line 11 (Horton in Ribblesdale to Clitheroe) starts in Horton near the railway station, with a late afternoon last bus (Mon-Sat at 15.55 (as of 06/24)). This is a good alternative to the infrequent train service if staying in Settle or Giggleswick.

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

Horton in Ribblesdale Station, map reference SD 803 726, is 328 km northwest of Charing Cross, 92 km southeast of Carlisle, 63 km northwest of Leeds and 245m above sea level and in North Yorkshire. It is a station on the Leeds - Settle – Carlisle Line, with nine trains per day Mon-Sat and six on Sundays. Journey time to Horton is 90 minutes from Carlisle and 70 minutes from Leeds.

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

Picnic

The Golden Lion Hotel Hawes Road (B6479), Horton in Ribblesdale, BD24 0HB, North Yorkshire (01729 860 206). The Lion is located 850m from the station.
The Crown Hotel Chapel Lane, Horton in Ribblesdale, BD24 0HF, North Yorkshire (01729 860 209). The Crown is located 400m from the station. Currently for sale.
Horton Station Café Bar Horton in Ribblesdale Station, Horton in Ribblesdale, BD24 0HH, North Yorkshire.

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