From a castle that held out for three years to four waterfalls in half a mile, this is the part of the Dales most visitors miss entirely.
Most people follow the same route through the Yorkshire Dales. They stop at Wensleydale for the creamery, photograph the Ribblehead Viaduct, and head home. The valley of Swaledale, running along the northern edge of the national park, gets a fraction of that traffic. This matters because the Yorkshire Dales villages above Reeth contain some of the most specific and verifiable material in the national park: a hamlet that produced the world’s first wildlife photographers, a church that waited 150 years to become a parish in its own right, and a point where two of Britain’s most famous long-distance walking routes cross in a field above the treeline.
These five places work best in order, south to north. Start at Skipton, where the Dales begin, and follow the valley up.
Region: North Yorkshire / Yorkshire Dales National Park
Best for: Walking, wildflower meadows, medieval history, photography, long-distance routes
Getting there: Skipton has a railway station served by regular trains from Leeds and Bradford on the Airedale line; check times at nationalrail.co.uk. For upper Swaledale, drive the B6270 from Richmond or take the Little White Bus (Bus 30) from Richmond through Reeth, Muker, and on to Keld. Check current services at wymetro.com.
Time needed: One full day to cover the route; two nights to do it without rushing.
Skipton: A Castle That Held Out for Three Years
Skipton stands at the southern edge of the Yorkshire Dales, where the limestone uplands meet the Aire Valley. The town runs on a long High Street with a market four days a week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday) and a canal that predates the railway. None of that is what brings most people here.
Credit – @DroneExploits
Skipton Castle at the top of the High Street has stood for over 900 years. The Clifford family held it for more than three centuries. During the Civil War, the garrison became the last Royalist stronghold in northern England to surrender, holding out from 1643 until December 1645 before finally yielding to Cromwell. Cromwell then ordered the roofs stripped to prevent the building from serving as a fortress again. Lady Anne Clifford, who had fought for decades to inherit the family estates, restored the castle between 1657 and 1658. In the Conduit Court at its centre stands a yew tree, which she reportedly planted in 1659 to mark the restoration. The tree is still there.
The castle opens daily from 10 am (11 am on Sundays), with last admission at 5pm, or at 4 pm from October to March. It closes on 23, 24, and 25 December. Behind it, Skipton Woods follows the Beck through mixed woodland at no charge. On clear mornings, the Conduit Court holds a quality of light that falls through the narrow gap between the medieval walls and catches the flagstones, making the space feel smaller and older than the surrounding structure.
Where to Stay: The Woolly Sheep Inn, Skipton, a Timothy Taylor’s pub with twelve en-suite rooms and the 2026 Yorkshire and Humber Regional winner at the National Pub and Bar Awards.
Worth Knowing: The siege lasted three years and two months. When Cromwell’s forces finally entered the castle in December 1645, the garrison had eaten most of their horses.
Swaledale: The Valley That Drains the Northern Dales
Swaledale runs roughly east to west through the northern section of the national park. The River Swale is one of the fastest-flowing rivers in England, draining a wide upland catchment that rises to the Pennine watershed. The valley floor is ancient farming country: the drystone walls that divide the meadows from the rough grazing above date mostly from the 17th and 18th centuries. The Swaledale sheep that graze the upper valley are recognisable by their black faces and pale muzzle, a breed shaped by centuries of selection for survival in exactly this terrain.
Credit – @UkByDrone2332
Between late May and mid-July, the hay meadows on the valley floor carry wildflowers in a density that has largely disappeared from the rest of England. Yellow rattle, bistort, globeflower, wood cranesbill, and meadow buttercup grow in fields that have never been ploughed. The Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust manages several of these sites as conservation projects.
At the western end of the valley, above the village of Keld, the Tan Hill Inn stands at 528 metres above sea level. That makes it the highest pub in England. It operates year-round, which in a hard winter with a remote single-track road and deep snow is not a straightforward proposition. If you’re combining a visit here with the 10 weird facts about Yorkshire that make the county unlike anywhere else, Swaledale provides several of them on its own.
Where to Stay: Butt House, Keld, a B&B run by Jacqui and Chris within two minutes’ walk of the valley’s waterfalls, with a licensed bar serving Theakston’s on tap.
Worth Knowing: The Swaledale Festival takes place in the last week of May and the first week of June, bringing music events to farm buildings and village halls the length of the valley.
Muker: A 16th-Century Church and Meadows Protected by Law
Muker sits in the middle section of upper Swaledale, a stone village where the valley floor tightens against the slope of Kisdon Hill. You can walk from one end to the other in three minutes. Give it longer than that.
Credit – @CJG1608
St Mary’s church was built in the late 16th century as a chapel of ease for Grinton, the ancient mother church of Swaledale, several miles downstream. Until the church opened, villagers at this end of the valley had no burial rights, which meant carrying the dead along the valley on foot for burial at Grinton. The route they followed, crossing the moor above the Swale, became known as the Corpse Road. The church became a parish in its own right in 1750. Two bells in the tower date from the medieval period.
Natural England designated the meadows around Muker as a Site of Special Scientific Interest. Between late May and mid-July, they carry wildflowers in a concentration that no amount of modern restoration fully replicates: meadow buttercup, selfheal, pignut, red clover, bistort, eyebright, and, in the best years, the globeflower and wood cranesbill in the upper fields. Cutting usually starts around mid-July, depending on the weather. If the flowers are the reason you came, timing matters.
The Farmers Arms in the centre of the village is community-owned, purchased by local residents to prevent its closure. It opens on Wednesday from 5 pm, Thursday and Sunday from noon, Friday and Saturday from noon; it is closed on Monday and Tuesday. On still evenings in June, curlews call across the hillside above the village. That sound is becoming genuinely rare in England.
Where to Stay: Stoneleigh Cottage, Muker, a self-catering cottage that backs directly onto the flower meadows with its own private car park and easy walking distance to the Farmers Arms.
Worth Knowing: The footpath from Muker to Keld, roughly 2.5 miles, passes through some of the best-surviving hay meadow landscape in the national park.
Thwaite: Where Wildlife Photography Began
Thwaite is a hamlet rather than a village, a cluster of stone farmhouses on the B6270 between Muker and Keld. Most people drive through without stopping. That is an oversight worth correcting.
Credit – @The-Great-Outdoors
Richard Kearton was born here in January 1862, and his brother Cherry in July 1871. Their father farmed the valley. Both brothers left Swaledale for London, but they carried with them what they had learned about the natural world. Together, they developed the concealment methods and field techniques that made wildlife photography possible at scale for the first time. They built hides from natural materials and photographed birds at their nests in conditions that had made close observation impossible. In 1895, they published British Birds’ Nests, the first natural history book illustrated entirely by photographs taken of wild subjects.
One of their most discussed methods was a converted stuffed ox, fitted with a lens hole, that Cherry could sit inside while photographing ground-nesting birds. It required significant commitment. It worked. Cherry went on to film Theodore Roosevelt’s 1909 African expedition and produced some of the earliest moving wildlife footage. David Attenborough has credited Cherry Kearton’s films for inspiring him, as a child, to dream of filming wild animals in distant places.
The Royal Geographical Society now awards the Cherry Kearton Medal annually for distinction in natural history filmmaking. The brothers are buried in London. Thwaite is where they started. There is no sign in the hamlet to tell you any of this.
Where to Stay: Butt House, Keld, about 2 miles up the valley from Thwaite, is the most practical base for this part of Swaledale.
Worth Knowing: Richard and Cherry Kearton were the first to photograph bird life in the wild at scale, using techniques they devised themselves in a valley where no one else was looking.
Keld: Where Two Trails Cross and Four Waterfalls Drop
Keld is the westernmost settlement in Swaledale and one of the smallest in the national park. The hamlet sits at a natural junction: the Coast to Coast Walk and the Pennine Way meet here, the only point where the two routes cross. Walkers on both paths stop at Keld to rest before the ground changes underfoot again.
Credit – @FarleyDrones
The valley tightens considerably at Keld. The River Swale drops through carboniferous limestone over a short distance and produces four waterfalls within half a mile: East Gill Force, Kisdon Force, Catrake Force, and Wain Wath Force. East Gill Force is the most accessible, about 300 metres east of the hamlet. The upper falls drop roughly 4.5 metres before the beck enters a lower series of stepped cascades. In the morning, the light falls directly on the upper pool. By mid-afternoon, the gorge walls shade most of the channel. The effect is different enough that it is worth choosing a time rather than arriving at random.
A circular walk of about 4 miles takes in Keld, East Gill Force, the ridge path above Kisdon Hill, the meadow path back toward Muker, and the river path returning to Keld. The path is well-used but can be wet at any time of year. Use the AllTrails app to navigate the route and check conditions before setting off. For more ideas on where to stay after a day in the upper dale, our guide to Yorkshire cottage getaways covers quieter options across the county.
Where to Stay: Butt House, Keld, run by Jacqui and Chris, the closest ensuite B&B to the Coast to Coast path at this point in the valley, with Theakston’s ale on tap and a drying room for boots.
Worth Knowing: Walkers completing the Coast to Coast from St Bees typically reach Keld around Day 6 of the route. Pennine Way walkers pass through heading north toward the Tan Hill Inn.
When to Visit Yorkshire Dales Villages
May to July gives you the Muker Meadows at their best, plus the Swaledale Festival in late May and early June. Spring and early summer also see the best light for photography along the valley. Autumn brings colour to the valley sides and significantly fewer visitors; the paths above Kisdon Hill have a different quality after the walking season has thinned out. Avoid the August bank holiday weekend if you can: the B6270 through upper Swaledale was not built for the volume it carries on the three busiest days of the year.
Skipton works in any season. The castle has no best time.
Practical Tips
- Muker Farmers Arms is closed on Monday and Tuesday. Plan food stops accordingly if you’re spending the day in the upper valley.
- Meadow wildflowers peak in June. Hay cutting usually starts around mid-July and ends the display for that year.
- The B6270 between Reeth and Keld has passing bays and narrows through the villages. Do not park on the road where it narrows.
- Skipton Castle closes at 4 pm from October to March (last admission). Plan accordingly if visiting in winter.
- Phone signal in upper Swaledale is limited. Download walking maps via the AllTrails app before leaving the car.
- The Little White Bus schedule for the Richmond-to-Keld route is limited. Check return times before setting off up the valley.
Responsible Visiting
The Muker meadows are working farmland. Stay on the public footpath north of the village. Do not enter the meadows through gates or over walls. The flowers survive because the land has been farmed continuously in the same way for centuries.
Park in the designated car park at Muker rather than on verges or in passing places. Farm vehicles use those roads daily.
There are no bins in Thwaite or Keld. Take everything out with you.
Reader Q&A
Is Skipton Castle worth visiting?
Yes. One of the best-preserved medieval castles in England, and a genuinely complete site that you can explore thoroughly in two to three hours. Combine it with a canal walk and the market on weekdays.
When is the best time to visit Muker for the wildflowers?
Late May to early July. The meadows reach their fullest bloom in June. Hay cutting usually starts around mid-July, which ends the display for that season.
Can you visit Upper Swaledale without a car?
Yes, with planning. The Little White Bus (Bus 30) runs from Richmond through Reeth, Gunnerside, Muker, and Keld. Services are limited so check return times at wymetro.com before setting off.
What is Thwaite known for?
Thwaite is the birthplace of Richard and Cherry Kearton, the brothers who pioneered wildlife photography in the 1890s. David Attenborough credits their early film work for inspiring him to pursue wildlife filmmaking as a child.
How many waterfalls are near Keld?
Four, all within half a mile: East Gill Force, Kisdon Force, Catrake Force, and Wain Wath Force.
Where to Stay
The Woolly Sheep Inn, Skipton. Twelve en-suite rooms in a Timothy Taylor’s pub on the High Street, winner of the 2026 Yorkshire and Humber Regional award at the National Pub and Bar Awards.
Butt House, Keld. B&B with ensuite rooms run by Jacqui and Chris, two minutes’ walk from the Keld waterfalls and the closest ensuite accommodation to the Coast to Coast path at this section of the route.
Stoneleigh Cottage, Muker. Self-catering cottage backing directly onto the flower meadows, with private parking and easy access to the Farmers Arms and the valley footpaths.
The upper Dales ask you to slow down, and Keld makes the case for that plainly: a handful of buildings, four waterfalls in half a mile, and two national trails crossing in the grass at the head of the valley.
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