Grassington to Hebden Circular

A circular walk of 6.5 km (4 miles), using the official distance convention for the exact signed route. Allow about 2 hours, though the official minimum is 1.5 hours. Graded moderate (5/10).

From the Grassington National Park Centre the walk goes through Grassington Square, then out on Low Lane and High Lane, an old packhorse route that sets the tone for the whole circuit. Open fields follow, passing the site of the former Grassington isolation hospital and the hay meadows of the Grassington Park Estate, before dropping to the road at Hebden. The return is the working half of the day: a footpath signposted Tinkers Lane, then a long steady climb through the fields in front of Garnshaw House up to Edge Lane, where the views open out towards Simons Seat, Barden and Burnsall Fell. A tarmac road takes you back down into Grassington.

This is low-level Wharfedale walking, mostly valley and field, with the mapped corridor sitting roughly between 195 m and 300 m. Track it on a GPS and you may see closer to 6.97 km (4.33 miles) once town access and field links are included.

• Rough and muddy in places, so boots rather than trainers.
• Several narrow stiles and steps along the way.
• The climb from Hebden to Edge Lane is sustained rather than steep.
• The final descent is on tarmac.

Start and finish at the Grassington National Park Centre car park, BD23 5LB, grid reference SE 00283 63750. There are toilets at the car park, and shops, cafes and pubs in Grassington itself.

Dogs are welcome on the public rights of way used by this route. Keep them on a lead in any field with livestock, and use a short lead from March to July for ground-nesting birds. Cattle and sheep on this circuit need close control throughout.

One clarification worth making: this is the short 4 mile Grassington to Hebden circuit, not the separate riverside Grass Woods walk and not the longer five mile variants you may see described elsewhere.