The Reluctant Explorers
Explore the Outdoors in the Yorkshire Dales with the Family
Discover the BEST Family Friendly Walks, Outdoor Adventures and Seasonal Events in the Yorkshire Dales
Welcome to the Reluctant Explorers!
Plan your days out with our visit with kids travel guides, find the perfect family-friendly walk in the Yorkshire Dales, hunt down an excellently easy nature trail, find a fun seasonal event that’s perfect for kids from toddlers to teens.
If it’s an outdoors activity in the Yorkshire Dales that you’re looking for, then we have you covered!
(And yes. I ran out of breath trying to say that too!)
At The Reluctant Explorers you’ll find inspiration for every possible kind of outdoorsy family day out.
Directly from a parent, to parents to help you plan your own awesome adventures.
Even better, every single family walk, kid friendly activity or recommendation on this website is all tried and tested by us as a family!
Follow us on Social Media for all the up to date info: @thereluctantexplorers
Meet the person behind our family walks and travel guides…
Hi there!
I’m Sam and I am the creator of the Reluctant Explorers. I share our tried and tested family walks, travel and events guides to help other families plan and enjoy their own outdoor adventures in the Yorkshire Dales.
But who on EARTH am I, and why should you trust anything I say?!
I am a local walks writer, who lives on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales National Park. It’s been my home for well over 15 years and has been my passion ever since. Since having a family here, I have made it my mission to create an interactive resource for other parents, so you can hunt down your own perfect family walk, plan an excellent day out, or even a holiday with the kids in the Yorkshire Dales.
Every single one of these walks has been designed for children and has been road tested time and time again by us as a family. If a walk isn’t a great walk, it doesn’t make the cut.
As a trained Hill and Moorland leader (awaiting assessment next year - wish me luck!) and Ordnance Survey champion, I am a self confessed map nerd and am a Yorkshire Dales ultra geek! I have hiked since I could walk and have done ever since.
So explore the website and you’ll certainly find yourself some inspiration for a top family outdoor adventure!
Something in mind? Search our full site!
(e.g. search: Gaping Gill Winch, Kettlewell Stepping Stones etc.)
Explore all of our family friendly walks on one interactive map!
If you are searching high and low for a family friendly walk in the Yorkshire Dales but don’t know where to begin, then start here!
You can browse all of our tried and tested kid friendly hikes from family friendly waterfall walks to pushchair friendly routes, from easy short child-friendly hikes to some of our walks suitable for older kids. This tool will help you to start planning your perfect family adventure!
How to use the interactive walks map:
The map you can see is embedded, so you can use it straight from the website. Alternatively, if you’d prefer, you can view it straight in Google Maps, simply tap the link on the button below.
The benefit of using it directly from the website is that when you tap on each individual walk, you will find the page link to each walk, allowing you to jump straight to the route information!
The map can be filtered as follows:
Family Walks (purple) | Pushchair Walks (pram) | Waterfall Walks (blue) | Walks Under Two Miles (yellow)
For more types of walks (pub walks, woodland walks etc. Head to the menus above where they are all categorised, depending on what you fancy!)
Scroll using the arrows for all our Family Friendly Walks
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![Swimming in Janet's Foss Yorkshire Dales]()
Waterfall Walks
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![Malham cove walk for kids]()
Pushchair Friendly
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![Pinhaw Beacon trig point walk near Skipton]()
Peak Bagging Walks
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![The Park at Greenhow Nidderdale]()
Walks with Play Parks
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![Gordale Scar in Malham Yorkshire Dales]()
Organised by Location
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![Walking in the woodland in Wensleydale]()
Woodland Walks
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![Playing on the shore of Embsay Reservoir Yorkshire Dales]()
Reservoir Walks
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![The ruins of Bolton Abbey]()
Bolton Abbey Estate Walks
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![Leaping over the stile at Almscliffe Crag]()
Walks Under 2 Miles
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![Child walking into a pub in Appletreewick]()
Walks with Pubs and Cafes
Seasonal Events in the Yorkshire Dales
I am here to help you plan the perfect Yorkshire Dales day out with the Kids!
Each season, we update our regular events pages, all of which detail the BEST outdoors and adventurous attractions who hold events in and around the Yorkshire Dales.
Believe it or not, the Halloween holidays are HERE! And I have a BUMPER guide to everything you can possible think of doing in the Yorkshire Dales with the kids!
Would you like your event to be featured on our blog and social media pages, contact sam@thereluctantexplorers.com and check out our media pack.
The Visit with Kids Travel Guides to the Yorkshire Dales
Here’s your inspiration for the perfect family holiday in the Yorkshire Dales
Our visit with kids guide help you to plan the ultimate family trip to the Yorkshire Dales. Within each guide, you’ll find our personal recommendations for family walks, our favourite local attractions and places to eat, drink, where to find the play park and of course the ice cream!
All built from our own experiences as a family who lives in and explores the Yorkshire Dales.
The Outdoors Blog
Your inspiration for everything outdoors in the Yorkshire Dales
If you’re on the hunt for real life reviews, camping tips, personal recommendations from over a decade of experience of hiking with kids, here’s where to look!
From hot picnic ideas, to outdoorsy gifts guides, from toddler friendly nature crafts, to where to take the kids climbing, the blog fills in all the gaps in between the family walks, travel guides and events inspiration!
And the best news? They’re all regularly updated too!
Featured in Yorkshire Life
In 2026 Keep your eyes peeled for our monthly family feature in Yorkshire Life magazine
We are also featuring a family walk in each edition of Live the Dales magazine, which is distributed around the local homes and businesses of the Yorkshire Dales!
For any enquiries for future features please email sam@thereluctantexplorers.com
This Season You Might Like…
Buy Me a Coffee
Make a Donation
Thank you for taking the time to have a look at my website and for reading this now!
I set up the Reluctant Explorers and maintain the website and attached social media accounts in my spare time, around mum-life and two jobs. It was designed to provide access for parents to free resources to help get more families outside and exploring in nature. These walks have all been created by myself and the kids and we have walked each one ourselves (and re-walk them regularly to keep the information as up to date as we can).
If you would like to support us and can afford a few pennies, you can make a donation to our ‘Buy Me a Coffee’ page. Simply tap the button below to head there!
Leave No Trace
The Yorkshire Dales is our home, and the home of so many others who care deeply about this beautiful space.
Should you visit, make sure to:
Take home anything you bring, leave no rubbish behind.
Make the world a better place by picking up any rubbish you see, even if it isn’t yours.
Leave everything else as you found it.
Help us to protect our wild spaces.
Want to Work with Us?
With a following of over 20k on Instagram, and over 35k on Facebook, and with nearly a half a million page views a year on thereluctantexplorers.com, get in touch if you’d like to work with us!
We have experience of working with a wide range of clients, photographing events and user generated content creation.
Get in touch with sam@thereluctantexplorers.com to get more information about rates and how we can help.
