Muker is a tiny, beautiful village, buried deep in the Swaledale Valley. It’s that small, it is home to barely 300 people!
The walk starts and finished in the village of Muker. The route is 6.2-miles long and takes you through the beautiful Swaledale Valley, along part of the Pennine Way trail to Keld, seeing some magnificent waterfalls, before heading back through the valley past Crackpot Hall. We did the route in the middle of Autumn. It was beautiful seeing all the different Autumn colours.
The route was recommended by the BBC Countryfile Magazine. They have some great walks across the UK.
Here’s a link to more of their walks: https://www.countryfile.com/go-outdoors/walks/
Location
Muker is a village, located in the Swaledale Valley, in the Richmondshire district, not too far from Gunnerside. It is in a quieter part of the Yorkshire Dales National Park, yet an area full of outstanding beauty.
Parking
You will need some change on you for parking. There is a car park in Muker, owned by Richmondshire District Council. It is only small, so I do recommend getting there early at busy times of the year, as I can only imagine, it does get full. When we visited in October, the car park was half empty. They are also one or two parking spots on the streets in Muker. However, they were all taken when we visited.
Parking charges, at the current time of writing this blog, are ÂŖ3.50 for 4-hours and ÂŖ4.50 for a whole day. We choose a whole day ticket, as you never know how long the walk is going to take you! It’s a good job we did, as we were out on the walk for just short of 5-hours. So if you are hiking this route, do get a full day-ticket!
The Route
Follow this map, as you walk the route, you shouldn’t get lost! Make sure your location is turned on and you should be able to see exactly where you are, on this map. Or if you prefer, download the GPX file and use it on your choice of route tracker.
1.
From the car park, take the road on your left-hand side, cross over the bridge, and follow it into the village of Muker. Take the road on your right-hand side and follow it up the hill, passing the church on your right-hand side, until you reach another road junction. At the next road junction, take the road going off to your left-hand side. Follow the road, taking the 2nd road junction, going off to your left-hand side. Follow the road, until you reach a footpath, zig-zagging up the hillside.
2.
Follow the zig-zagging footpath up the hill until you reach a gate. Go through the gate and take the Pennine Way footpath, going off to your right-hand side. You should see an old stone house on your right-hand side.
3.
Follow the Pennine Way along the edge of the valley, seeing some fantastic views along the way. Eventually, the path will drop down off the hillside, passing through Rukin Woods, to a signpost pointing to Keld.
4.
At the signpost, take the footpath pointing off to your right-hand side, marking the Public Bridleway. Cross over the bridge and you should see some magnificent waterfalls.
5.
Follow the Public Bridleway, along the opposite side of the Swaledale Valley, back towards Muker. Look out for Crackpot Hall up on the hillside and old machinery lying just off the Public Bridleway.
6.
As you head down towards the floor of the valley, you will see a footpath going off to your right-hand side. Take the footpath and cross over the bridge. Follow the signpost back to Muker, following marked footpaths through farmer’s fields. Eventually, you will arrive back in the village of Muker, where you started the walk from.
Enjoyed this walk and want to know another in the area? Check out my Gunnerside walking trail: Gunnerside Old Lead Mine Trail.
