Bardale Head House

The earthworks at Bardale Head are genuinely easy to miss if you're not looking for them. What you've got here is an Iron Age settlement - think defensive ditches, house platforms, and the ghost of a community that thrived around 2000 years ago on this exposed Yorkshire hillside. The landscape tells the story better than any sign could. You'll see the characteristic terracing where roundhouses once stood, the banks that offered protection, the way the site commands views across Wensleydale.

This isn't a visitor centre with interpretive panels. It's archaeology on the ground, which means you need either a decent guidebook or the kind of imagination that can read a hillside. Walkers get the most from it - the site sits at a good vantage point near Hawes, and you can easily loop it into a day exploring the Pennine slopes. Families with older kids who like a proper ramble will find it worthwhile; younger children might struggle to engage with unmarked earthworks. Allow 30 minutes if you're just taking photos, longer if you want to sit and actually absorb what you're looking at.

The nearby campsites - Stablefell Holidays and Hawes Caravan and Motorhome Club - put you perfectly positioned for this kind of exploration. Combine it with walks through upper Wensleydale and you've got a solid day out. Go early morning if the weather's decent; these exposed hilltops turn grim quickly when the clouds roll in.