(Anna-Maria writes:) Last week I travelled up to Yorkshire to pick off the lower-level Tour of the Three Peaks route as well as two sections of the Dales Way that Chris and I hadn’t been able to finish at Christmas, thanks to the torrential rain and knee-deep bogs. Despite the weather being better on my two Dales Way review days, I really want to focus this blog-post on the Three Peaks as it has to be one of the most beautiful walks I know of in the UK, even when shadowed by grey clouds.


The impressive Lune Viaduct on the Dales Way

Routes like the Coast to Coast and Pennine Way give a varied overview of the various National Parks we have to offer and the two Lake District circuits currently offered by UK Exploratory help you get to know the characteristics of the different Lake District areas, yet I consider the Tour of the Three Peaks to be better than all of them.

The Yorkshire Three Peaks is a well known challenge walk, requiring the challengers to climb the three well-known “peaks” (more like reasonably high hills) of the Yorkshire Dales in quick succession, returning to their starting point in as short a time as possible. The three peaks in question are Pen-y-Ghent, Whernside and Ingleborough.

I love an outdoor challenge as much as the next person (assuming that the next person is also an outdoor enthusiast, of course) but this approach to the area doesn’t do it justice.

While Pen-y-Ghent is the best known, perhaps because it is one of the summits also passed over by the Pennine Way and has a characteristic scramble to the final ascent, anyone spending much time in the area will quickly find that it is the characteristic wide and flat summit of Ingleborough that most surely dominates the surrounding landscape. Whatever approach you are taking to this area of the Yorkshire Dales and even once you are here, it is almost certainly Ingleborough that you will see every time you look up.


Even under grey skies Ingleborough dominates the landscape

By taking the line of least distance between the peaks on the Yorkshire Three Peaks challenge you fail to see the beauty of their surroundings or to appreciate the true dominance of Ingleborough. The three summits have shaped the landscape around them and you won’t get to truly understand either the summits or their area by ticking them off as quickly as possible on your challenge sheet.

UK Exploratory understands this and has developed a walk that not only allows people to climb the summits but to move between them by way of a longer tour round the area. It is only a small area, but by taking the more circuitous route you get to know it intimately, understanding how each valley intersects with the next, finding the hidden waterfalls and gullies hidden on the southern slopes of Ingleborough and appreciating how these peaks rule over the landscape around them.

The size of the summits, paired with the depth of the valleys between them, means that each day brings completely different views, despite the closeness of the surroundings. You quickly learn that Ingleborough, placed at the heart of this walk looks different from every angle: dark and sinister with its steep slopes when viewed from the north, yet lush, grassy and genial with an approachable countenance when you pass its southern aspect.

Last November I had the pleasure of reviewing the high-level route of the Tour of the Three Peaks. This is a big walk, taking in one of the summits each day before dropping back into the valleys for the evenings. To couple with this high-level route the company has an alternate low-level route for each day, allowing an easier day for those who don’t want to climb high every day.

I love high routes with their expansive views and as such I didn’t have particularly great expectations for my low-level review last week. Instead I was looking to this as a job to be done, nothing more. I take it all back now.

The low-level route seduced me with its unexpected beauty, passing far enough between the summits to allow splendid views of each one. It may miss a couple of the more exceptional corners explored by the higher-level route in the ascents and descents, but there are still some beautiful areas including the final waterfalls into Ingleton. It was also rather pleasant to enjoy so much stunning scenery without being buffeted by the winds on hilltops.


Wild garlic in full flower on the riverbanks

This area of the Yorkshire Dales also brings another pleasant surprise. Its quietness. Despite the long sections of field walking on the lower route, perhaps one of my greatest dislikes of low-level walking in the UK, this whole area lacks the unpleasant busy character of other National Park areas.

There’s no queuing at stiles waiting for a crowd who are coming the other way, or trying to find a way to overtake another party of walkers going at a different speed on a narrow path. In fact, the lower route is even quieter than the high route, where you are likely to bump into people powering through the Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge or doing circular day walks around one summit.

After enjoying the route so much and having spent two review trips getting to know the area in depth, I spent time with some of the route-writing team brainstorming on ways we could adjust the current route to extend people’s understanding of the area and to make the route into an optional three-day route, perfect for a long weekend break, as well as the current four-day format. This slightly changed route, still with its brilliant flexibility for each day between a big climb or an easier lower-level ramble, will hopefully be released before the end of the summer so look out for it and grab the opportunity to get to know this quiet and less well-known area of the Yorkshire Dales.

I love it and I think you might too.

Tour of the Three Peaks
Dales Way