Length : 17.2 km (10.7 mi) [shorter walks possible, see below]
Ascent /Descent: 559m
Net Walking Time : 4 ½ hours
Toughness : 5 out of 10
Take the 09.20 Carlisle train from Leeds City Station (Shipley 09.33, […], Settle 10.21), arrives Horton in Ribblesdale at 10.30.
Return trains: 16.21, 17.49, 19.54, 21.51.
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.
Walk Options:
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.
Lunch: Picnic .
For
walk directions,
map,
height profile,
photos and
gpx/kml files click
here . T=swc.441