Bolton Castle Walk

🌄 BOLTON CASTLE WALK: EXPLORE WENSLEYDALE’S MOORLAND AND VILLAGES
🌿 This rewarding walk through Wensleydale offers a wonderful mix of scenery, history, and rural charm. Starting beside the impressive Bolton Castle, the route leads you across open moorland, through peaceful valleys shaped by Apedale Beck, and into welcoming villages full of character. It is a walk that captures the quiet beauty and heritage of this part of the Yorkshire Dales.
🧭 Beginning at Bolton Castle’s pay-and-display car park, the route heads north across moorland towards Dent’s Houses, continues east across Redmire Moor, and then drops into Preston-under-Scar. From here it turns south through farmland towards Redmire before looping back across fields to Castle Bolton. Along the way, you’ll encounter historic mining remains, far-reaching views, traditional villages, and a satisfying variety of landscapes.
🥾 This circular walk covers 9½ miles and takes around 4½ hours to complete, with a total ascent of 351 metres. Full directions, walk statistics, and parking information are provided on the walk page. You will also find links to both Ordnance Survey and Outdooractive maps, giving you the option to print the route, download it to your device, or export a GPX file.
🏘️ Castle Bolton is a small village in Wensleydale with a long history and close links to the nearby medieval fortress. Its cottages line a central green, many dating from the 18th and 19th centuries, and the village name reflects early Anglo-Saxon origins. The surrounding area includes other settlements such as Redmire, Carperby, and Aysgarth, all contributing to the dale’s distinctive character.
📸 The walk offers memorable moments throughout, from the rising track towards Bull Park Plantation and the wide moorland views above Black Hill to the sheltered stone buildings at Dent’s Houses. You’ll encounter old quarries and smelt-mill remains at Cobscar, welcoming villages along the route, and uplifting views as you return towards Bolton Castle at the walk’s end.
📍 If you enjoy varied landscapes, local history, and peaceful countryside, this route is well worth exploring. Visit the walk page to view the full directions, browse the maps, check parking information, and use the planning tools to help you prepare for your day out.
https://www.paulbeal.com/bolton-castl...