Along its 38 mile length, the Six Dales Trail crosses the 5 watersheds that separate the six dales that give the trail its name. From Wharfedale it crosses into Washburndale, then into Nidderdale, Colsterdale, Coverdale and finally Wensleydale

 

The terrain traversed by the trail varies from quiet steep pastures to high heather moorland, from stretches alongside fast-flowing rivers to stretches through the 18th century parkland surrounding the ruins of Jervaulx Abbey

 

The entire route is full of interest and opens up areas that have not been downtrodden and eroded by the passage of a million boots.

 

Six Dales Trail - Among the 50 best walking holidays in the UK

Though this two year-old trail passes through some of the most glorious countryside in the Yorkshire Dales it was designed specifically to open up some of the area's lesser-known countryside, and does so brilliantly. Running north for 38 miles from Otley in Wharfedale to Middleham in Wensleydale it passes through four other dales and ruined abbeys, quaint villages and wild open countryside along the way.

The INDEPENDENT