Dales Way: Grassington to Buckden

Third leg of the Dales Way. Grassington up to Buckden, about ten miles, and the first one that properly leaves the river behind.

Same trick as last time, in reverse. Drive to the far end, bus back down to the start, walk towards the car. We parked at Buckden and got the bus to Grassington.

Parking at Buckden

The National Park car park at Buckden is a good spot to start from. Toilets, a bike rack, picnic tables, and one of those little moss-roofed information shelters with maps and notices in it. The bus stops in the car park too, which is the bit that makes the whole day work — park up, walk twenty yards to the stop, done.

Charges are on the board and in the Before you go box above. Worth knowing the daily ticket expires at midnight rather than running 24 hours from when you buy it, and that a two-hour ticket gets you three if you’ve a Blue Badge in the window.

The bus that wasn’t a bus

I’d been picturing a bus. A proper one. What turned up was a Mercedes Sprinter converted into a minibus, which took me by surprise for about thirty seconds and then made complete sense — the roads up this dale are not built for anything bigger.

It’s a nice ride down, thirty-five minutes through Kettlewell and Kilnsey with the dale opening out beside you.

Then a bit of a moment at the Grassington end. My partner’s seatbelt wouldn’t unfasten. The red button just would not move — no give in it at all. She’s more agile than me and managed to contort her way out of it, which I’d like to say was dignified. The driver wasn’t thrilled, and asked us to leave it plugged in so nobody else got caught by it. Fair enough, really.

Grassington

We had a bit of time in Grassington so we stopped for a pot of tea in the covered area at the back of one of the coffee shops. I’m always mindful of putting at least a little something into the local economy when I stop somewhere, and it’s no hardship in Grassington — the cobbled main street with the bunting up is a good place to sit and watch for half an hour.

Then off. Out of town and up the hill, a left turn, then a right, and that’s you onto the fields.

Out onto the green track

You’re into open pasture almost straight away, and the first field had cows in it. Not aggressive, just there, and standing between us and the gate as cows tend to. Took our time, gave them a wide berth, carried on.

After that it settles into the best stretch of the walk. A green track across open ground, stony limestone hills either side, the dale falling away to your right. Miles of it.

There are a lot of stiles. Not difficult ones, just a lot of them — this is walled country and every wall wants crossing.

About three quarters of an hour out of Grassington you come past an old lime kiln built into the limestone, restored rather than ruined, with a plaque next to it.

I’d walked past dozens of these over the years without knowing how they worked. Layers of limestone and coal loaded in the top, kindling lit at the bottom, then left to burn for about three days. The arch at the front drew the air in to keep it going. When it was done the lime got raked out of a small hole at the bottom called the eye, and the farmers spread it on the fields to sweeten the grass. This one’s about 150 years old, privately owned, and was consolidated with National Park support in 1996.

The views open up properly along here. Limestone scars, the whole of Wharfedale below, and on the day we had it the sky kept swapping between clear blue and grey rainy cloud without ever quite committing to either. Warm, though.

There’s a junction partway along where a fair few people turned right. We went diagonally left, which is the Dales Way, and the path firms up into more of a track from there before it starts dropping.

Then the descent into Kettlewell. A walled lane brings you down off the tops and the village comes up at you fast.

Kettlewell, and a bike race

Total fluke, this. We walked into Kettlewell and the place was lined with people, marshals in hi-vis, motorbikes parked up. The Tour of Britain was coming through.

Stage Four, Helmsley to Leyburn, and its route went up Wharfedale through Kettlewell and Buckden before turning off over Kidstones — so for a few miles the race was doing exactly what we were doing, only faster. We stood at the roadside and watched them go past, which is not something I’d have planned and was all the better for it.

Once the excitement died down we used the toilets in the village and headed for the river.

Kettlewell to Buckden along the Wharfe

Different walk entirely, this half. The high stuff is behind you and the route just follows the river up the dale — fields, then woodland, then more fields, with the Wharfe alongside most of the way.

More stiles. Some of them nice bits of work — stone steps up to a wooden frame, set straight into the wall.

It’s working country up here and it doesn’t pretend otherwise. We passed a farmer out on a quad with the dogs, getting on with his afternoon.

One thing to know about the finish: the path takes you slightly past Buckden on the wrong side of the river, and you come back over on the road bridge to reach the village. Feels like an odd bit of doubling back the first time you do it, but it’s how you get in.

Then the Buck Inn, and a very well-earned pint of lemonade sat outside in the sun.

Leg done. Car about two minutes away.

Practical notes

Parking and the bus are both in the Before you go box near the top of the page.

Which way round: Park at Buckden, bus down to Grassington, walk back. The Venturer is Monday to Saturday only and doesn’t run every service every day, so check the timetable and pick your bus first, then work the day around it. We took the 09:35 from Buckden and were walking out of Grassington by five to eleven. On a Sunday you’d need the DalesBus 874/875/876 instead.

The path: Well waymarked throughout — you’re rarely more than a field from a Dales Way sign. The one place to pay attention is the junction on the tops where the obvious-looking path goes right and the Dales Way goes diagonally left.

Underfoot: Grass and stone track for the Grassington to Kettlewell half, riverside field paths after. Lots of stiles. Nothing technical.

Food and water: Grassington at the start, Kettlewell roughly halfway with pubs and toilets, Buckden at the end. Carry water regardless — there’s nothing between Grassington and Kettlewell.

Cows: In the fields right out of Grassington when we went. Normal Dales farming country, just be sensible.

Doing the Dales Way in sections

This follows on from Dales Way: Bolton Abbey to Grassington and Dales Way: Ilkley to Bolton Abbey. Three sections in and you’ve done Ilkley to Buckden — roughly the first 28 miles of the route, all as day walks with a bus back.

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Walked September 2026. Bus timetables in the Dales are seasonal and change — always check upperwharfedale.com or dalesbus.org before you travel.