Coast to Coast Through the Yorkshire Dales: Sheep, Drystone Walls, And The Best Wild Camp

From enigmatic ancient sites to lush working landscapes — the Yorkshire Dales brought tranquillity and calm.

If you’re looking for the main planning guide, there’s a link below; otherwise, read on for my story of what it’s like to hike through the stunning Yorkshire Dales National Park on Wainwright’s Coast to Coast.

The Feel of the Yorkshire Dales

The Yorkshire Dales National Park pulls at your heartstrings. It’s the texture of the landscape that I love — pillows of lichen and moss on dry stone walls, dirty fleece caught on barbed wire, glistening in the rain…and the colour of verdant valleys threaded with silver rivers, the rich deep browns of peatland, and the purple-covered moors. All my senses come alive, like the landscape itself.

The Dales is a living, working landscape – fields bounded with 5,000 miles of ancient limestone walls, scattered upland farmsteads and small villages, and sheep are everywhere.

In early September 2025, it was, as ever, wet and cold.

Smardale Fell — My Best Night on the Coast to Coast

As the temperature dropped and the winds picked up, my first day in the National Park came to a close on Smardale Fell, a few miles outside Kirkby Stephen.

Craving solitude and peace, I watched Mike, who I’d crossed the Lake District with, head off the fell to a campsite in town, leaving me to quietly pitch up in the lee of a drystone wall.

That night became the most memorable on the whole trail: it was sublime.

Sat in my new tent, wrapped up in my sleeping bag and wearing every layer I had, I cooked pasta in the vestibule and watched a huge, bright moon rise over the hill directly ahead. Long, feathery grasses shook in the wind, and my face prickled with the unexpected cold.

“If hiking is a search for something, it’s this.”

In moments like these, everything falls away — you simply become part of it all. Time is irrelevant –  there’s only feeling. If hiking is a search for something, it’s this. 

The Yorkshire Dales National Park is one of the UK’s largest Dark Sky Reserves, and as the sky darkened from cobalt to near black, the stars glittered above wisps of cloud like a child’s homemade Christmas card: totally magical. I slept like a baby.

The morning brought a different kind of sparkle. As the sun rose in watery pinks (I actually woke up!), the dew beaded the grasses, saturating the ground –  and my tent.  Hiking into Kirkby Stephen, I felt the weight of it – and sent home 750g of unnecessary gear!

The trail leaves the National Park for a few miles between Kirkby Stephen and Nine Standards Rigg, just 700 metres shy of the boundary, but definitely one of the highlights of this section.

Nine Standards is a series of enigmatic conical cairns at the top of Hartley Fell (662 m). They’re at least 800 years old, but why they were built, no one knows. From the top, the panoramic views are spectacular. In one direction, you look back to the Lake District and in another, ahead across a peat bog, leading back into the Yorkshire Dales National Park on a newly laid limestone path. I was in my element, alone again, lost in thought and feeling alive in the cold winds and driving rain.

Keld, Gunnerside and Swaledale

Coming down off the moor brings you through picture-perfect villages like Keld and Gunnerside – blink, and you could be in the 18th century. But it’s a tough life, as farmers describe in this fascinating film the by Yorkshire Dales National Park: Farming Through The Seasons.

Late in the afternoon, I bumped into Mike again and we camped at Rukins Lodge in Keld, falling asleep to the sound of rushing water on the River Swale.

From here, there’s a choice of routes: head back up onto the moors to see the ruins of the lead mining industry, or stay down in Swaledale, following the trail along the river. On the recommendation of a local, I decided to walk along the river – I live in a Mining World Heritage area, so I’ve seen plenty of mines, and I’d been up on the moors for days. Mike decided to take the same route.

It’s a great choice if you want to experience local culture. It’s easy walking through hay meadow after hay meadow, lush after so much rain. Squeezing through tiny gaps in the drystone walls, following signs to walk in single file, I image the colour of wildflowers, and how it must buzz with life in the height of summer. Always listen to the locals “the mines are interesting enough, but the valley is so beautiful at the moment”. He wasn’t wrong.

We stopped in Gunnerside for a cold drink and chatted to another hiker, Adam, who was planning to hike a good more distance that afternoon. I raised my eyebrows — he’d be walking in the dark. (Fun sometimes — but I didn’t want to miss any of the scenery.)

That night, I pitched up at YHA Grinton Lodge (Mike stayed in a dry pub!), and looked forward to hiking some big miles the following day – my last day in the National Park. I’d missed the big miles, so Mike and I said our goodbyes after what was, for me, an unusual but fun experience of walking with someone else. (The last time I walked with company was with my son on the West Highland Way, but I’m not sure that counts!)

Leaving the Dales — Richmond and Onwards

Richmond, a bustling market town with cobbled streets and a Norman Castle (circa 1071) is where I said goodbye to the Yorkshire Dales National Park, before heading on towards the third and final national park on the Coast to Coast: The North York Moors.

Planning Your Own Walk On The Coast to Coast In The Yorkshire Dales?

• Ask local walkers and hikers about the best routes to experience on the day — the terrain is relatively easy, but the weather (and what you want to see) might influence high moorland or low valley routes
• Rest assured, navigation is easy — there’s no more bog hopping or getting lost in bad weather on the moor at Nine Standards – the newly laid flags lead the way
• Make sure you allow some time to enjoy the gorgeous towns and villages along the way, including Keld, Reeth and Richmond — a few highlights that make the Yorkshire Dales so special

Why not make a note of these in my free trail-planning workbook From Dream To Trail? Find out more here: The Extra Mile.

Thanks for reading, and

Happy hiking.