The Dales Way from Ilkley to Bowness-on-Windermere in the Dales Way Association's six sections: up Wharfedale by Bolton Abbey and Grassington, over Cam Fell, down Dentdale to Sedbergh, then through the Lune Gorge and the Lakeland foothills to Windermere.
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
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Six sections, the Dales Way Association's own, of 15 to 25.5 km on our line; the Association publishes no distances or times for them. Gearstones has no beds: the nearest are at Ribblehead, about 2 km away. Grassington and Starbotton, between Burnsall and Buckden, have beds too. Choose a plan, or pick your own start, finish and nights below.
Changing where you stay suggests a new number of days: the fewest that keep each day under 8 h of walking and in daylight, where a place to stay allows.
Days end where the route has a stay, a camp or a village.
Stage 1: From Ilkley up Wharfedale by the river, through the Bolton Abbey Estate and Strid Wood and past Barden Bridge to Burnsall: 21.1 km on our line. The Association publishes no distance or time for its sections. Between Addingham and Bolton Abbey a waymarked permissive path, opened in 2024, takes walkers off the busy B6160 onto a track and a path beside it: follow the signs.
Burnsall Town or village
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.
Find your own accommodation; TrailSplits has not checked what is open.
Stage 2: 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.
Buckden Town or village
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.
Find your own accommodation; TrailSplits has not checked what is open.
Stage 3: Up Langstrothdale by Hubberholme, Yockenthwaite, Beckermonds and Oughtershaw, then over the watershed on Cam Fell to Gearstones: 19.7 km on our line. Before Hubberholme a permissive riverside path, opened by the National Trust in 2025, saves about a quarter of a mile on the road; the old route stays open. The Association calls it the most challenging section of the Dales Way. Gearstones has no beds: the nearest are at Ribblehead, about 2 km west by the road (a little over a mile from Gearstones, the Association says).
Overnight
Hostel or bunkhouse
Pick a date to check the season.
A hamlet on the B6255 with no beds. The nearest are at Ribblehead, about 2 km west by the road: the Association puts Gearstones a little over a mile from Ribblehead station.
Stage 4: Down Dentdale by Dent to Sedbergh: 23.3 km on our line. In Upper Dentdale our line takes the Dent road. The Association keeps the road as a permitted option, but since 2026 its official route goes by 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 waymarks may not match it yet. The road at Dent Head fell away after heavy rain in 2024 and was closed even to walkers. In May 2025 the Association said it had reopened to walkers, though not to traffic; its 2026 post speaks of closures until 2026, so check before you go, and if the road is shut take the official route over Wold Fell. From Barth Bridge our line takes the lane; OpenStreetMap also maps a riverside footpath beside it, 2.6 km, and we could not tell which one the Association signs, so follow the waymarks. The section ends where the line passes Millthrop Bridge; the centre of Sedbergh is about 760 m off.
Overnight
Hotel
Pick a date to check the season.
The line passes Millthrop Bridge; the centre of Sedbergh, below the Howgill Fells, is about 760 m off it, up the road. The S1 bus runs to Kendal.
Or a room in the village. Find your own accommodation; TrailSplits has not checked what is open.
Stage 5: Through upper Lunesdale, over the Crook of Lune bridge and along the Lune Gorge, then west to Burneside on the River Kent: 25.5 km on our line, the longest section. The Association lists one B&B on the way, at Whinfell, about a mile off the trail.
Burneside Town or village
A village on the River Kent, with a station on the Windermere branch line and buses to Kendal. We have not yet checked a place to stay here: look for Burneside on the Association's accommodation list, or take bus 45 to Kendal.
Find your own accommodation; TrailSplits has not checked what is open.
Stage 6: Along the River Kent to Staveley, over the low hills of the Lakeland foothills and down to the Dales Way bench above Bowness-on-Windermere: 15.0 km on our line.
Longest day: day 5, 6 h 23.
Days end at a stage end with a refuge or a village, or in a village the route passes through. Walking times are measured on each stage's mapped line by our route analysis (terrain heights and our hiking-time model, moving time only): no time is published for these stages.Outside Switzerland our walking times often run short of the times route operators publish; treat them as optimistic. Running times use 7.5 km/h plus one hour per 700 m of climb: a steady reference, not a prediction. Daylight is sunrise to sunset where the day starts; the time left is for breaks, meals and delays.Refuge dates come from the operator's own pages; when they are not published, we say so. For villages we count the places to stay OpenStreetMap lists; we have not checked which are open. A plan is not a booking: reserve every night before you commit to these day lengths.
Where each stage ends, the 2026 and 2027 seasons the operator publishes, and how to book. Read from the operators' pages on 13 October 2026; each stage page shows the sources and the grade profile.
| Stage | Night at | 2026 | 2027 | Booking |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Ilkley to Burnsall | Burnsall · accommodation in town, not checked | Each host has its own season | Book with a host | |
| 2. Burnsall to Buckden | Buckden · accommodation in town, not checked | Each host has its own season | Book with a host | |
| 3. Buckden to Gearstones | The Station Inn | 2026 dates not published | not published | Booking method not published |
| 4. Gearstones to Sedbergh | Howgills Apartments | 2026 dates not published | not published | Booking method not published |
| 5. Sedbergh to Burneside | Burneside · accommodation in town, not checked | Each host has its own season | Book with a host | |
| 6. Burneside to Bowness-on-Windermere | The Old England Hotel | 2026 dates not published | not published | Booking method not published |
Loading the forecast for low point (57 m) and high point (518 m)…
Typical weather on this trail: at the lowest point (57 m) and the highest point (518 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 | Mixed | Mixed |
| Stages rated good on typical weather | 0/6 | 0/6 | 3/6 | 6/6 | 6/6 | 6/6 | 6/6 | 6/6 | 6/6 | 5/6 | 4/6 | 0/6 |
| High point, day / night | 4°/0° | 5°/0° | 7°/1° | 10°/2° | 13°/5° | 16°/8° | 17°/9° | 17°/9° | 14°/7° | 10°/5° | 7°/2° | 5°/0° |
| Low point, day / night | 7°/2° | 7°/1° | 10°/3° | 12°/4° | 15°/7° | 18°/10° | 19°/12° | 19°/11° | 17°/9° | 13°/7° | 10°/4° | 7°/1° |
| Rain, mm | 186 | 148 | 130 | 101 | 105 | 119 | 142 | 154 | 148 | 184 | 187 | 206 |
| Snow at high point | Possible | Possible | Possible | Frost | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | Possible |
| Daylight | 7 h 52 | 9 h 43 | 11 h 44 | 13 h 59 | 15 h 58 | 17 h 10 | 16 h 43 | 14 h 59 | 12 h 49 | 10 h 39 | 8 h 34 | 7 h 22 |
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.
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.
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 874Closures and notices last checked 13 October 2026: DalesBus: service 874 · Dales Way Association: Dent Head road · Dales Way Association: news · Dales Way Association: route updates · Dales Way Association: Upper Dentdale. Check them again before you set out.
Getting there
Choose a stage or journey above to narrow the travel searches.
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.
The Dales Way Association gives 80 miles (128 km) in six sections, in 6 sections on our map. The guide's day planner offers a 6-day plan on the overnight stops, and you can choose your own nights.
April to October. April to October is the best time, the Dales Way Association says, with milder weather and longer days.
Northern runs electric trains to Ilkley from Leeds and Bradford Forster Square. The "Connect your journey" section has the travel details, with 2 more travel notes.
There is no central booking.
Yes: the whole route and every section, free, for a GPS watch or a phone. The guide also saves your plan for offline use in the app.
Closures we know of are shown on the days and sections they affect, in the day planner and on the stage pages. We watch 5 official notice pages (DalesBus: service 874; Dales Way Association: Dent Head road; Dales Way Association: news; Dales Way Association: route updates; Dales Way Association: Upper Dentdale); the date we last read them is shown with the notices on this page. Check them again before you set off.
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
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