Navigation Course Locations: Yorkshire Dales
Pen-y-Ghent, taken from Ingleborough.
Suggested locations to practice map and compass skills, on the Yorkshire Dales,
together with suitability, terrain, and facilities
This website is now unfortunately closed. I shall no longer be taking bookings for courses. Due to health issues, I am unable to offer classes. The effects of heavy smoking in my younger days have caught up with me – COPD. (I haven’t touched a cigarette in 30 years). Basically, I have to keep stopping to get my breath when ascending hills, because my lungs have lost their elasticity. The booking section of the website has been removed.
I will still be out walking & backpacking, at my own pace, but not taking classes.
Thank you to all those I have taught in the past. Any questions, get in touch via email.
Grinton, Leyburn
Free roadside parking adjacent to the Moor. The Market Town of Leyburn is a 10-minute drive away with outdoor gear shops and cafes.
Easy access on to the moor, with short grass, Heather & Bracken. There are some boggy areas, which can be avoided. Great to practice micro navigation. A superb area to practice navigation.
Stainforth, near Settle
A pay-and-display National Park car park in the village. There is a pub (not used), but no other facilities. We follow the River Ribble, then ascend through woodland onto the Limestone Fells. Each different terrain allows practicing navigation. Dry underfoot with short grass and limestone outcrops. An excellent cafe to use at lunch time, as a bonus.
Hawes, Upper Wensleydale
The market town of Hawes has both off-street parking and pay-and-display car parks.
A great place to start the day is at the cafe in the Wensleydale Creamery. Outdoor equipment shops in the town.
The town is surrounded by hills & moors that can be used to practice navigation. Limestone fells and Moors up to an elevation of 670 meters, with sheep pasture and rough grassland.
Clapham, Ingleborough
A pay and display car park in the village centre.
Some small shops. There are so many different terrains to explore on the lower slopes of Ingleborough. We are there to practice navigation, not to bag a peak, even if it is Ingleborough. Limestone terrain with gorges & numerous sink holes. Limestone pavements & short sheep pasture. Dry underfoot.
Kettlewell, Great Whernside
A pay and display car park in the village centre.
Some small shops.
On leaving the village, we will ascend onto the fells, with limestone terrain. The lower slopes can be boggy, some very boggy. Rough grassland & exposed rock outcrops. This can be quite demanding physically.
Gunnerside, Swaledale
Free roadside parking, but it can get very busy.
This is limestone country with stone walls and sheep pasture, but with a history of lead mining.
We will follow Gunnerside Gill, up onto the fells, where we then explore the open countryside.
Gentle ascents and descents. Down by the “Gill – Stream” it can be damp in the winter months. A lot of history to explore along the way.