Bolton Haw End

The walk up Bolton Haw End rewards you with proper Dales views - the kind that make you understand why people keep coming back to this corner of Yorkshire. It's a modest peak by serious mountaineer standards, but from the top you're looking across the Wharfe Valley with Bolton Abbey's ruins visible below, and the moorland stretches away in all directions. Allow a couple of hours for the walk itself, depending on your fitness and how often you stop for photos. The terrain is straightforward enough - nothing technical, just steady climbing through moorland and pasture. It's the sort of walk families with older kids will manage without complaint, though younger ones might find the final push tedious.

Skipton sits just a few miles south and makes a logical base if you're doing this alongside other Dales walks. The caravan parks scattered around the area - Wharfedale and Wood Nook are closest - put you within easy striking distance. Combine it with Bolton Abbey itself, which has its own paths and riverside walks that'll keep you occupied for an afternoon. The peak itself costs nothing to climb; it's just a matter of getting there and putting in the legwork.

Best tackled on a clear day when the visibility actually justifies the effort. Mist rolls in quickly up here, and on a grey morning it feels rather less rewarding. Weather aside, it's a cracking walk that doesn't demand a full day but delivers genuine Yorkshire Dales character - no tourist crowds, just genuine landscape and air.