Pen Y Ghent from Horton in Ribblesdale.
Distance: 7 miles / 11 kilometers
Time: 3 hours 10 minutes
Grade: Moderate/Difficult
Map: OS Explorer OL2 -The Yorkshire Dales Southern & Western Area
Walk Summary
There is limited parking at the pay and display car park (coins only) £5 for the day in August 2015. The Pen y ghent Cafe is a popular gathering place for walkers and climbers, and has been the starting point of the Yorkshire 3 Peaks challenge for many walkers. The local tourist information centre is within the cafe.
Taking an anti-clockwise route around the 10 mile circular walk, starts by turning right out of the car park, pass St Oswald's Church and the road to the school, take the next left (a single track road) as you leave the village. After a short climb, at the junction turn left and this will take you to Brackenbottom, which isn't land marked! Turn right through the gate and start the ascent to Pen-y-ghent which is a very pleasant afternoon walk. It was a wee bit overcast, but warm. The ascent from Brackenbottom up to Pen-Y-Ghent is a steep 1 3/4 miles on well managed gravel and paved track some of which is stepped with local stone.The last 300 yards or so to the summit is a bit of a scramble over the crags which requires a bit of hands on at a couple of points, but nothing too difficult. The rest of the walk is fairly moderate.
The decent is very gentle giving some very nice views of the area. The wee detour to Hull Pot is well worth a visit, though there hadn't been much rain so the fall was more of a trickle and the chasm was empty. Be very careful on the grass edges if trying to get a view or taking photographs, as an accident could become you and it is a fair drop to the bottom.
The end of the walk brings you back into the Horton village opposite the Pen-y-ghent Cafe. Doing the walk in reverse following a clockwise route, is a bit more strenuous as the climb to Pen-y-ghent is a long steady climb for about 5 miles, and the decent is steep and can be a bit uncomfortable on the legs and toes - but this is just my personal experience.
