Wildflower Walks

In the Yorkshire Dales

Do love a walk through a meadow full of stunning wildflowers?

Well, you are in the right place! This page is dedicated to the absolutely STUNNING beauty of the Yorkshire Dales National Park’s wildflowers, mostly, their upland wildflower meadows.

Did you know that the Yorkshire Dales National Park is the home of some of the only remaining traditional wildflower meadows in the COUNTRY? 97% of the UK’s meadows are already lost, which is sad news indeed.

Did you know that a SINGLE wildflower meadow can be home to up to 120 different species of grass and wildflowers? And that these extraordinary environments are an absolute haven for pollinators? Wildflower meadows are a rare beauty, but are super important for farming, for carbon absorption and also for biodiversity. (Source Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust)

And they are truly beautiful to walk through.

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.

Climbing on the trees in the Chevin

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

The wildflower meadows of Littondale
The stepping stones at Kettlewell

Kettlewell Stepping Stones

📍 Kettlewell, Upper Wharfedale, The Yorkshire Dales

⭐⭐ Little Adventurers

🚘🥾💦🧒🌳🐶🚌

📏 2 miles circular walk

We love Kettlewell! Located in the heart of Wharfedale in the Yorkshire Dales this walk will take you on a short walk to the stepping stones and back. It’s a great walk for a Summer’s Day with places to get down to the water’s edge to splash and wildflowers aplenty through the fields alongside the river.

Rampsholme Bridge near Muker

Muker Circular

📍 Muker, Upper Swaledale, North Yorkshire Dales

⭐⭐ Little Adventurers

🥾🎒🚘💦🌳🚌🐶

📏 Less than 2 miles

Muker is FAMOUS for its wildflower meadows, and this short circular will take you through some of the stunning meadows!

You’ll also find the perfect paddlesome picnic spot at Rampsholme Bridge!

Cray Gill waterfall in the Summer

Cray Gill Waterfalls, Upper Wharfedale

⭐⭐⭐ Superstar Hikers

📍 Buckden/Cray, Upper Wharfedale

💦🎒🥾🚘🌳🚌🐶

📏 5 miles circular

There are 11ty billion waterfalls on this walk. Fact.

Ok, I got the kids to count, but there are so many wonderful waterfalls to spot that 11ty billion isn’t a bad shout and for only 5 miles, that’s a lot of waterfalls per mile!

It’s also got 3 pubs…. that’s a pretty decent ratio too in my opinion….

The play area at Kettlewell

Kettlewell to Starbotton

📍 Kettlewell, Upper Wharfedale

⭐⭐⭐ Superstar Hikers

🥾🎒🚘💦🧒🌳🚌🐶

📏 Circular walk, 4.5 miles

This circular walk from Kettlewell to Starbotton is about 4.5 miles and starts and ends with ice cream and a park! (Oh and the pub….. three pubs!)

There are paddle spots, a park and it’s dog friendly too!

the waterfall at Flintergill

Flintergill, Dent

📍 Dent, Cumbria, Western Yorkshire Dales National Park

⭐⭐⭐ Superstar Hikers

📏 Circular walk 6 miles

🥾🎒🚘🚌🧒✨👻💦🌳🐶

This fab circular walk starts and ends in the village of Dent. The walk is PACKED full of cool stuff for the kids, it features a waterfall, a small farming museum, ruins, paddle spots, ice cream, a park AND a vampire stone! You’ll have to read more about that in the walk details!

Walking into Halton Gill village

Halton Gill, Littondale

⭐⭐ Little Adventurers

📍 Littondale, near Wharfedale, Central Yorkshire Dales

🎒🚘🥾💦🌳🐶

📏 2 miles

This circular walk was born out of my desire to visit a movie location! So if you want a dose of Hollywood, coupled with a heavy hit of Yorkshire Dales phwoar in a super secret location? This one’s for you!

Reeth Stepping Stones

⭐⭐ Little Adventurers

📍 Reeth, Swaledale, North Eastern Yorkshire Dales

🚘🎒🥾💦🍦🧒🌳🚌🐶

📏 Under 3 miles circular

We love a good old fashioned stepping stones walk! This one is located in Swaledale in the Norther reaches of the Yorkshire Dales National Park.

The river is super shallow around them so it’s a great place for a paddle and a picnic too! In Reeth, you’ll find a park as well as pubs and an ice cream parlour too!

Mill Gill force in Wensleydale

Mill Gill and Whitfield Gill Force

⭐⭐⭐ Superstar Hikers

📍 Askrigg, Wensleydale The Yorkshire Dales

🚘🥾🎒💦🌳🚌🐶

📏4.5 miles

Oh yes. This one is for the waterfall lovers out there! Not one, but TWO epic waterfalls, and you get a bonus waterfall in for good measure!

This walk starts and ends in the bustling village of Askrigg in Wensleydale and is awesome in winter and paddlesome in Summer!

Scroll using the arrows for all our Family Friendly Walks

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