Hidden Valleys of Wharfedale
Venture through the remote u-shape valley that offers some of the Dales most picturesque views.
Summary
Planted in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales in the North of England, Upper Wharfedale is a u-shape valley that follows the River Wharfe along quiet villages such as Buckden, Yokenthwaite, Hubberholme, Littondale, Kettlewell, Starbotton and Langstrothdale to name a few. On offer, you will be sure to find stunning views of the areas that is characterised by its dry-stone walls and limestone outcrops with plenty of wildlife roaming the area. It is one of the quieter and more remote part of the Dales as demonstrated in the below photographs.
The Hike
We bagan from Buckden which is nestled on the valley floor, although it doesn’t matter which town you start from due it being a circular walk. Ideally, I would recommend starting from Buckden , as you can encounter the steepest part of the walk whilst you are fresh.
We began the hike from Buckden. The path off the main road is well sign posted throughout the Dale’s floor, before it quickly became very steep as we climbed up to the first summit of the day; immersing ourselves in the surrounding, exposed, hidden moorland valley. The climb seemed to go on for what seemed like an eternity. The terrain was ever changing and had a mix of boggy and shaley rock conditions “I’m going to stop for a Banana” Fuelled; we popped up at the top of the summit onto an excellent track, that followed some of Yorkshires iconic dry stone walls offering 360 views of mysterious fells in the distance, that were covered with haze and fog as we descended steeply into Litton.
Once at the foot of the peaceful valley floor, we continued onwards towards Halton Gill on flat farmland fields that offered ruins of dilapidated but characteristic barns along the way. It was the perfect time to perch ourselves on the old rock as we admired the unique Dales surrounding us.
It wasn’t long after lunch we set foot on the bottom of climb number two, which was steeper and longer; however, we had company of roaming highland cattle that weren’t shy around humans. As we ascended higher to the summit of Horse Head, the views into the valley below gave a much greater perspective of the scale of the distant fells. The summit is vast, and quickly descends sharply into the quiet hamlet of Yokenthwaite that follows the gentle River Wharfe back to Buckden.
Although our time was coming to an end, leaving the beauty and simplicity that nature has to offer, I am left with an everlasting impression. Especially somewhere so close to home.
Gallery