The area

The Yorkshire Dales comprises of the Yorkshire Dales National Park and NIdderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. They are situated in the middle of the country and straddle the Pennine watershed. This is not mountainous countryside, but is certainly not flat, and has high upland areas and peaks separated by steep sided valleys. These fabulous areas are valued for their great scenery and landscape, their natural and cultural heritage, as well as the recreational opportunities they offer.

The south of the National Park has the finest limestone scenery in the UK, with associated crags, pavements, sinkholes and cave systems. Elsewhere you find valleys with distinctive stepped sides, evidence of glaciation, high heather moorland, and dales with characteristic dry stone walls and field barns.  The northern part of the area has a wilder and more remote feel to it with large expanses of moorland and valleys dotted with small villages.