Dales Way · Stage 2
Walking time measured on the mapped line (TrailSplits time model, moving time; within 22 % on four in five test legs). Outside Switzerland our walking times often run short of the times route operators publish; treat them as optimistic. Climb measured on the mapped line, on terrain heights.
Over the Mid-Craven Fault at Loup Scar to Grassington, along limestone terraces and down to Kettlewell, then by the river to Buckden: 22.4 km on our line. Grassington and Starbotton, on the way, have beds.
Best season: April to October. April to October is the best time, the Dales Way Association says, with milder weather and longer days. You can walk it in winter, but it is wetter, muddier and harder. The Sunday DalesBus 874 up Wharfedale runs its summer timetable until 18 October 2026; a winter timetable follows. Before you go
Facts read from the guide's sources and OpenStreetMap on 13 October 2026. A page can change after we read it, so confirm with your accommodation before you rely on a date or a bed.
Stage start
Town
A village on the Wharfe, at the end of the Association's first section. We have not yet checked a place to stay here: look for Burnsall on the Association's accommodation list, or stay in Grassington, about 5.5 km on.
A town or village: find accommodation yourself. TrailSplits has not checked what is open.
Stage end · overnight
Town
A village at the head of Wharfedale, with the National Park car park and the DalesBus stop. We have not yet checked a place to stay here: look for Buckden on the Association's accommodation list, or stay in Starbotton, about 3.5 km back.
A town or village: find accommodation yourself. TrailSplits has not checked what is open.
The Association publishes no distance or time for section 2. dalesway.org, read 13 October 2026
Make it your trip
There is no central booking. The Dales Way Association lists bed and breakfasts, bunkhouses, campsites, hostels, pubs and self-catering places, but says it has not inspected them: book each one with the provider. Some campsites are seasonal: the pop-up campsite at Grassington opens from 1 May to 30 September. Cash machines are few along the Way and not every provider takes cards, so carry some cash. We have not yet checked places to stay at Burnsall, Buckden and Burneside: look them up on the Association's list.
The Association's six sections, a night at the end of each.
Plan this journeyUp Wharfedale in two sections, by Bolton Abbey and Grassington.
Plan this journeyThe Lune Gorge and the Lakeland foothills to Windermere in two sections.
Plan this journeyLoading the forecast for low point (144 m) and high point (332 m)…
Typical weather on this stage: at the lowest point (144 m) and the highest point (332 m). Select a month to see why it is rated as it is.
| Month | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weather | Mixed | Mixed | Mixed | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Mixed |
| High point, day / night | 5°/1° | 6°/1° | 8°/1° | 11°/3° | 14°/6° | 17°/9° | 19°/10° | 18°/10° | 15°/8° | 12°/6° | 8°/3° | 6°/1° |
| Low point, day / night | 7°/2° | 7°/2° | 9°/3° | 12°/4° | 15°/7° | 18°/9° | 20°/12° | 19°/11° | 17°/10° | 13°/7° | 10°/4° | 7°/2° |
| Rain, mm | 133 | 109 | 95 | 80 | 83 | 103 | 116 | 126 | 118 | 138 | 143 | 154 |
| Snow at high point | Possible | Possible | Frost | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | Possible |
| Daylight | 7 h 54 | 9 h 44 | 11 h 44 | 13 h 58 | 15 h 56 | 17 h 07 | 16 h 41 | 14 h 57 | 12 h 48 | 10 h 40 | 8 h 36 | 7 h 25 |
Source: TerraClimate 1991–2020 monthly averages. Averages for the area at each point’s elevation (4 km grid, corrected for height). Not a forecast or a report of current trail conditions. Snow at the high point is estimated with a simple snowpack model from these temperatures and precipitation, not observed; steep islands and high summits can hold more snow than it shows. Daylight is for the 15th of each month. Hut, transport and park seasons are separate: check them for your dates.
Before you go
Arrange your stays, food and travel first, then check conditions again near departure.
Since 2026 the Association's official route through Upper Dentdale is the Pennine Bridleway from Newby Gate over Wold Fell, 1.8 miles to a four-way fingerpost, then down beside Arten Gill and its viaduct. The Dent road stays a permitted option, and it is the way our line and GPX take. The waymarks may not match the new route yet. The Association's news post of 29 June 2026, read 13 October 2026, has the details.
Dales Way Association: Upper Dentdale route optionsThe Dent road at Dent Head, on section 4, fell away after heavy rain in 2024, and the council closed it to all traffic, walkers too. In May 2025 the Association said the road had reopened to walkers, though it stays closed to traffic. Its news post of 29 June 2026 speaks of closures, even to walkers, from 2024 to 2026, so we could not confirm the state of the road when we read both on 13 October 2026. If you find it shut, take the official route over Wold Fell and down Arten Gill.
Dales Way Association: road closure at Dent HeadThe Association calls Buckden to Gearstones the most challenging section of the Way. Gearstones has no beds: the Station Inn at Ribblehead, about 2 km west by the B6255, has rooms and a bunkhouse. Cash machines are few and not every provider takes cards, the Association's facilities page says (read 13 October 2026), so carry some cash.
Dales Way Association: facilities along the WayThe Association keeps a dated list of route changes and posts news of closures and new paths; read both before you set off. We checked them on 13 October 2026. The Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority's site could not be read by our checker: look there for path closures in the park.
Dales Way Association: route updates and changesDalesBus 874 runs on Sundays and bank holiday Mondays all year, from Leeds and Ilkley by Bolton Abbey, Burnsall, Grassington and Kettlewell to Buckden. Its summer timetable runs until 18 October 2026, and a winter timetable follows (read 13 October 2026). On weekdays the 74A minibus links Ilkley and Grassington on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, the 72 runs from Skipton to Grassington, and the Association names the Upper Wharfedale Venturer 72A further up the dale.
DalesBus: service 874Getting there
Travel around Burnsall to Buckden.
Google Maps journey searches, not confirmed services. A mountain endpoint may need a booked transfer or an additional walk.
Northern runs electric trains to Ilkley from Leeds and Bradford Forster Square. The trail starts by the River Wharfe, about 0.7 km from the station.
Dales Way Association: public transportSettle–Carlisle trains stop at Ribblehead, a little over a mile from Gearstones, and at Dent station, 4.5 miles from Dent village: every two to three hours, the Association says. The S1 bus (Western Dales Bus Company) runs from Sedbergh to Kendal three times a day, Monday to Saturday, and on to Dent village on Wednesdays and Dent station on Saturdays. Burneside and Staveley have stations on the Windermere branch line, and the 555 runs from Lancaster by Kendal to Windermere.
Dales Way Association: public transportThe trail ends at the Dales Way bench above Bowness-on-Windermere. Windermere station is about 1.5 miles away, on foot or by bus 599, with trains about every hour to Oxenholme and Lancaster.
Dales Way Association: public transportTake your trip with you
Prepare each section while you still have a connection: in the upper dales and on Cam Fell the signal can be weak.
Keep your route and maps on your phone for places without a signal. For multi-day trips, prepare them in the installed TrailSplits app.
Saving a bookmark is not a map download. Storage can be cleared by your device; keep a backup map for remote trips.
Route & sources
The Dales Way Association divides the Dales Way into six sections, from Ilkley to Burnsall, Buckden, Gearstones, Sedbergh, Burneside and Bowness-on-Windermere, and gives about 80 miles (128 km) for the whole Way. It publishes no stage times and no distance for any section, so every distance and time here is measured on our line. The line here is the route on OpenStreetMap (relation 29302, from the planet of 11 October 2026): 126.9 km, cut at the six section ends, 21.1, 22.4, 19.7, 23.3, 25.5 and 15.0 km. In Upper Dentdale it follows the Dent road, which the Association keeps as a permitted option; since 2026 its official route there goes over Wold Fell and down Arten Gill. From Barth Bridge in Dentdale our line takes the lane, not the riverside footpath. Gearstones has no beds, and Sedbergh's centre is about 760 m off the line. Our climb is measured on terrain heights, so short steep steps are smoothed out.
Official guidance and mapped-source comparison checked 13 October 2026. Map data is a route reference, not confirmation of today's path, weather or accommodation availability.
Dales Way Association: the routeMap data © OpenStreetMap contributors · Source relation