It’s been years since we last visited Bolton Abbey near Skipton. One of the most iconic ruins in Yorkshire, it’s a popular family day out, and we’ve been somewhat put off returning by our dislike of crowded places. However, it’s popular for a reason, and after a break of a few years I fancied returning for a wander along the riverside path. Surely, I said to Sam, it won’t be that busy in October?
This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon associate, I will earn a small commission from qualifying purchases, at no additional cost to you, which helps me offset the cost of running this blog. I only link to products I have purchased myself and which I genuinely recommend.
We followed an 11 kilometre circular route which I found in our Pocket Mountains guide to the Yorkshire Dales, which I’ve resolved to start using more often – far too often we hop over to the Lakes for the day and miss out on all the lovely countryside on our doorstep!
Bolton Abbey have three different car parks – we parked at the abbey car park, but the walk passes all three. The charge of £15 per car seems steep at first, but this does give you access to the whole site and all the walks – so it’s probably comparable with the cost of visiting a National Trust property for a non-member. You can save money by booking your parking the day before, which brings the cost down to £12.50.
We arrived around 10am, before the car park had really started to fill up, although there were a fair few people milling around. Navigation was straightforward and the walk follows very well surfaced paths for the most part, although there was still enough up and down to give us achy legs by the end! Due to the amount of rain we’d had the day before the famous stepping stones were totally submerged and nowhere to be seen, but there were still nice views of the abbey.
As we got further away from the two main car parks near the abbey, thankfully the paths got a bit quieter. The walk takes you through Strid Woods, over Barden Bridge and back into the woods and past the Strid – note that the water here is absolutely not safe to swim in, even when the river seems tranquil. Strid Woods are a site of scientific interest and home to lots of different species, including otters and a number of different waster birds. Sadly, the otters continue to elude me!
While Strid Woods don’t have any ‘wow factor’ views, it’s still very pleasant walking under the trees with the river below. Nearer the abbey you can also find the ‘Welly Walk’, a family friendly trail with a number of outdoor obstacles for children to enjoy.
Dog friendly rating – 3.5/5. As Strid Woods are a site of scientific interest, there are signs up asking for dogs to be kept on a lead, and it’s clearly signed when you can and can’t have your dog off lead – although at times it felt like we were the only people adhering to this! As Bolton Abbey is so popular, we saw plenty of other dog walkers, many of which were off lead and came charging over to say hello – not ideal when you’ve got a reactive dog unfortunately. On the plus side, there were no stiles, and while the river was too fast for swimming there were a few places where there was water for them to have a drink.
If you’ve enjoyed reading this blog today, subscribe below so that you never miss a post:
