Whernside (Ribblehead Circular) walk

20.7 km (12.9 mi), with 592m cumulative ascent/descent. For a shorter walk, see below Walk Options.

6 out of 10 with 5 ¼ hours walking time.

An easy route up to the highest point in the Yorkshire Dales, the summit of Whernside. Not as dramatically and iconically shaped as the other two of the Three Peaks, Ingleborough and Pen-y-ghent, and without the dramatic limestone features that Ingleborough woos with, Whernside nevertheless enchants with the initial ascent up the lonely Little Dale and then ‘around the back of the hill’ along mainly good grassy tracks with fascinating views into Dentdale and to the Artengill Railway Viaduct, as well as across to the mountains further north, including Baugh Fell, Great Knoutberry Hill and with peeks to Mallerstang and into the Upper Eden Valley.

You ascend the slope dominated by mosses, heather and cotton grass, to the plateau with its many tarns and eventually follow an elevated scarp side path to the summit. The southerly tops of the Dales and Upper Ribblesdale are in view from here, as are the Howgill Fells and a glimpse of Morecambe Bay to the west. The following steep descent benefits from being on the Three Peaks Route as it follows an engineered path, but you then leave the Three Peaks Route and follow a quiet loop along farm tracks under Whernside’s westerly nose and down to Chapel-le-Dale. Here and along the route back to Ribblehead, many features typical of limestone country are passed: limestone pavement, shake holes and sink holes, pot holes, dry streambeds and rivers, seasonal waterways. The final stretch leads under the iconic Ribblehead Railway Viaduct.

Shortcuts are described, but one of the main ones follows the busy Yorkshire Three Peaks route uphill.

Follow the Yorkshire Three Peaks route (more direct but very busy and considerably steeper) up to Whernside’s plateau along an engineered path rather than the scenic and quiet around-the-back route. Cut 3.2 km and 50m ascent.
Cut the westerly loop through Chapel-le-Dale and past a couple of pot holes. Cut 4.2 km and 90m ascent.
An Alternative near the end of the Chapel-le-Dale loop diverts around the crossing of the Winterscales Beck, which – although usually dry at the crossing point – can become too dangerous to cross when in spate.
From Chapel-le-Dale, follow the road all the way to the train station: cut 1.3 km.

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

Ribblehead Station, map reference SD 765 789, is 336 km northwest of Charing Cross, 85 km southeast of Carlisle, 70 km northwest of Leeds, 315m 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 five on Sundays. Journey time to Ribblehead is 84 minutes from Carlisle, 16 from Settle and 77 from Leeds.

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

Picnic

The Old Hill Inn Low Sleights Road, Chapel-le-Dale, Ingleton, North Yorkshire, LA6 3AR (015242 41256). The Old Hill Inn is located 120m off route, 4.3 km from the end of the walk.
Philpin Barn Snack Bar Philpin Farm, Chapel-le-Dale, Ingleton, North Yorkshire, LA6 3FH (015242 41846). Philpin Farm is located 3.9 km from the end of the walk.
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