A day our exploring the Yorkshire Dales from York.

There are lots of places within an hour’s drive of York you can visit. But one of the highlights must be the Yorkshire Dales, the second largest National Park in England after the Lake District. It’s a beautiful, historic and expansive area of valleys (dales), heather moorland and villages. Mountain Goat Day Tours, regularly do tours to the park, going there at least 4 times a week.

Visiting the three main Dales, namely Wensleydale, Swaledale and Wharfedale, we show how each valley has its own character and views. It is a day of steep hills and deep dales, hopefully getting to see the wildlife as well as an abundance of sheep. It is said that there are 30 sheep for every person that lives on the National Park.

Agriculture is still very important to the area, with hundreds of small working farms scattered over the hillsides along with the famous 18th Century Dales barns. But, going back to Roman times until about 100 years ago, there would have been mining for lead and quarry stone throughout the whole region. Nowadays, you see the 200 year old dry stone walls (there are 5,000 miles of them on this park) enclosing pasture land for sheep, cattle and horses.

Using different routes to get to see the best of the Dales, whatever the weather, we visit beautiful natural features such as Aysgarth Falls or medieval manmade structures like Bolton Castle and the Jervaulx Abbey ruins. We also stop for lunch in one of the characterful small market towns, such as Reeth or Hawes, so that you experience the sheer variety the area has to offer.

The Yorkshire Dales are open landscapes and whichever season you decide to join us, you’ll feel the vast size of this lovely national northern English treasure. Stopping for photo opportunities of scenic views, you’ll have a full on day out getting back to York to enjoy your evening.

Have a look at our Yorkshire Dales tour here.