Walks with Folklore and Legends

Yorkshire Dales walks with Beasties and Fairies

There are so many incredible legends and fairy tales told about the Yorkshire Dales…

Did you know that the Yorkshire Dales is the home to the Queen of all the fairies? Or perhaps you might have heard about the giants who live in caves and throw rocks? The folklore of the Yorkshire Dales will not leave you wanting and these tales range from the fanciful, to the downright sinister!

And these walks? These walks will walk you in the footsteps of fairies, chasing the tails of the beasties and have you walking with the giants!

You might even come across a vampire!

Remember to scroll down to the bottom of the page to read the full stories.

Walk Difficulty Ratings

All of our tried and tested kid friendly walks have been divided into 3 categories dependant on difficulty, length and terrain:

⭐ Little Monkeys:

Walks suitable for younger children. Shorter length walks with occasional pushchair access.

⭐⭐ Little Adventurers:

Walks suitable for pre-schoolers. Medium length/ difficulty walks.

⭐⭐⭐ Superstar Hikers:

Walks suitable for older children. Longer length walks with some difficult terrain.

Silhouette of a witch in a cave

Walks at a Glimpse

Here is our quick look key so you can identify what each walk has without taking too long!

👶 Suitable for Pushchairs

🎒 Suitable for Carriers

🚘 Car Park/ On Street Parking

🚌 Public Transport Links

🐶 Dog Friendly

🥾 Sturdy Footwear or Wellies

🧒 A park or play area

🦆 Ducks to Feed

💦 Water play/ paddle/ swim

✨ Cool history or geology

👻 Legendary Story

🌳 Walking Games

Pretending to howl at the moon
Walking into Trollers Gill

The Barghest and the Trolls

Trollers Gill

⭐⭐ Little Adventurers

📍 Skyreholme, Wharfedale

🚘🎒🥾💦🌳🐶👻

📏 3 miles there and back again

This is such a classic Wharfedale walk through a narrow rocky gorge that is jam-packed with legends. The clue is in the title, as Trollers Gill hasn’t got its name by coincidence (or maybe it has…) The towering rocky faces on both side are reportedly the home to violent trolls, who love to throw rocks at passers by. But that’s not all…. the Gill is the home of a demon dog, a Barghest, who has brought men to meet their grizzly doom….

Climbing up to Janet's Foss

Janet, Queen of the Fairies

Janet’s Foss

📍 Malham, Yorkshire Dales

⭐⭐⭐ Superstar Hikers

🚘🥾🎒✨🌳👻🚌🐶

📏 4 - 8 miles dependant on the route you opt to take.

If you have Tinkerbell in mind when you are thinking of Janet, then you might be twinkling up the wrong toadstool, because the stories about Janet might actually leave you with shivers down your spine. Needless to say, her fairy tales are probably ones for the grown ups…

Nevertheless this waterfall is magical (if you can get it to yourself…)

The Dent Vampire Stone

The Vampire of Dent

📍 Dent, Cumbria, Western Yorkshire Dales National Park

⭐⭐⭐ Superstar Hikers

📏 Circular walk 6 miles

🥾🎒🚘🚌🧒✨👻💦🌳🐶

Now HERE’S a story to behold! Did you know that there is a real life actual vampire buried next to the door of the church in the village of Dent in the Westmorland Dales? It’s true…. he was even buried with a cast iron stake through his heart…. FACT! Whether or not he was an ACTUAL vampire…. well that’s left up to you, but this walk takes you right past the church, where you can call in to pay a visit to old George.

Hell Gill Force waterfall in Mallerstang

The Devil’s Bridge at Hell Gill

Hell Gill

📍 Mallerstang, Yorkshire Dales National Park

⭐⭐⭐ Superstar Hikers

📏 Circular walk 2-3 miles

🥾🎒🚘💦🌳🐶

You’ll soon come to realise that the Devil had a fair few alleged architectural additions to the Yorkshire Dales and the bridge over Hell Gill is no exception. (Check out all of the stories for more Devil bridges!)

Whilst the Devil part is a taaaaaaad fanciful, this walk has drama in droves with a fantastic waterfall and an eerie slot canyon.

The Strid on the Bolton Abbey Estate

The Strid Kelpie

Strid Woods, Bolton Abbey

⭐ Little Monkeys/ Little Adventurers

📍 Wharfedale, The Yorkshire Dales National Park (SE)

📏

👶/🎒🥾🦆🚘💦✨👻🐶🚌🌳

The Strid is infamous for being the reason why the River Wharfe is one of the most dangerous in the UK. It being the area where the entire mass of the River Wharfe is forced through a narrow rocky ravine only a matter of feet wide. The result is of course that this place is packed with stories, not least the Kelpie (water horse) who comes up from the water with it’s demon fairy rider to bring unwary passers by to their doom. Elsa… eat your heart out!

Exploring Yordas cave near Ingleton

Yordas the Giant

Yordas Cave, Kingsdale

📍 Kingsdale, South Yorkshire Dales (near Ingleton)

⭐⭐ Little Adventurers

🚘🥾💦🎒✨🌳👻🐶

📏 Less than 1 mile - explore!

This ex Victorian show cave is spectacular, has a 30 foot waterfall hidden inside and was once home to a giant. I mean of course… it IS big enough!

Oh and watch out for the ghostly army hanging around Kingsdale too!

Walking on the Rocky Valley in Ilkley

Rombalds the Giant

The Rocky Valley

⭐⭐⭐ Superstar Hikers

📍 Ilkley Moor, West Yorkshire

📏 2 miles

🎒🥾🦆🚘💦✨🐶🚌🌳

Ah those blummin’ giants are EVERYWHERE!

This one lurked on Ilkley Moor until he had a barney with his wife and ended up creating the Cow and Calf rocks….

Looking over a bridge with birds flying overhead

The Yorkshire Dales Folklore

Read the Full Stories of the Yorkshire Dales Legends…

Scroll using the arrows for all our Family Friendly Walks

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