To the east of the market town of Skipton is some peaceful moorland. Any walk on Skipton Moor has excellent views over the town and some pleasant walking on its broad summit area.
The residents of Skipton are very fortunate. From their doorstep, certainly those living to the east of the main street, any resident can take a daily walk in to some lovely countryside. The moors are accessed by a short, quite steep climb in the woods before everything spectacularly opens out. Here there is open moorland, capped by a trig point and a couple of intriguing cairns. The sentinels of Skipton (except they face the wrong way!). It is easy to follow a number of sheep tracks that are dotted around the hillside and discover your favourite view. Personally I like looking north and west over Embsay Moor and pointy Sharp Haw.
Return via the bridleway that makes up a small section of the Dales Highway. The Dales Highway is one of the most enjoyable long distance paths in the Dales. The main reason for this is that it sticks to the highest ground wherever possible.
This is an enjoyable walk at any time of the year. For example the gorse bushes in bloom are fantastic in May and June. However it also makes an excellent winter walk particularly when there is a covering of snow. Geologists are much taken by the quarrying on Jenny’s Gill, a fine example of sandstone beds amongst the 20 metre Millstone Grit wall whilst, just below the quarry, is a series of well worn tracks through the trees much loved by mountain bikers.
Start and finish in Skipton town centre. It is a short walk through town to the start.
There is a lot of marshy and wet ground to the east and south of the trig point on Skipton Moor. As a result look for the blue marsh symbol on the background of the the 1.25,000 O/S map. It is usually near the heads of hillside hills. However when you see the green equivalent it simply refers to rough ground.
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