National park
Dog walks in the Yorkshire Dales, and lead rules
Trekosa finds dog walks in the Yorkshire Dales to suit your dog and you. Tell us once what your dog finds hard, and we show you walks with the roads, stiles, livestock and council dog rules already marked.
This national park lies in North Yorkshire, Cumbria and Lancashire.
Do dogs have to be on a lead in the Yorkshire Dales?
On open access land, yes: by law from 1 March to 31 July, with close control all year. The park authority also asks for a lead on public paths and in any field with farm animals, and on some grouse moors dogs may only use the public paths.
- On open access land your dog must be on a lead from 1 March to 31 July, and under close control all year.The law. Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority.
- On some land, such as grouse moors, long-standing restrictions mean dogs may only use the public rights of way.The law. Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority.
- The park authority asks you to keep your dog on a lead on public rights of way and in fields with farm animals, and on a short lead from March to July while birds nest on the ground.Asked of visitors. Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority.
- Since March 2026 it is an offence to let a dog chase or frighten farm animals, even without touching them, on footpaths, roads and bridleways as well as in fields, and the fine has no upper limit.The law. Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority.
Each read on the page named beside it on 29 September 2026. Rules change, so check the page before you go.
What the walks in the Yorkshire Dales are like
We have measured 38,200 walks in the Yorkshire Dales so far, each against the same public map data as everywhere else: where the path runs, what is beside it, the roads it meets and what is on the way. Each bar is the share of those walks the sentence is true of, and the mark beside it is North Yorkshire as a whole.
What is beside the path
On open access land for a third or more: 68% of the walks in the Yorkshire Dales, against 31% across North Yorkshire.
Shares of walks where the ground beside the path is a given kind for the stated part of the way.
| Walks that | Share of walks measured |
|---|---|
| Under trees for a third or more of the way | 12% |
| Beside water for a tenth or more | 73% |
| On open access land for a third or more | 68% |
| Through a park or green space for a third or more | 3% |
| Beside crop fields for a third or more | 51% |
| Beside farm grassland for half or more | 98% |
| No farm grassland at all | <1% |
| Off road for four fifths or more | 50% |
| On roads or lanes for half or more | 20% |
| Through built-up streets for half or more | <1% |
What might stop you
No stile, gate or cattle grid: 42% of the walks in the Yorkshire Dales, against 58% across North Yorkshire.
Shares of walks with none of each thing on the way. A road counts when it runs within about fifteen metres of the path.
| Walks that | Share of walks measured |
|---|---|
| Never beside a fast road | 93% |
| Never beside a busy road | 86% |
| No busy road to cross | 86% |
| No stile, gate or cattle grid | 42% |
| No steps | 92% |
What is on the way
Pass a busy beauty spot: 53% of the walks in the Yorkshire Dales, against 30% across North Yorkshire.
Shares of walks that start by, or pass, each of these.
| Walks that | Share of walks measured |
|---|---|
| Start where you can park, at a car park or on a minor road | 40% |
| Pass a pub | 13% |
| Pass a dog-waste bin | 10% |
| Pass a public toilet | 10% |
| Pass a drinking-water tap | 2% |
| Pass a busy beauty spot | 53% |
The walks in the Yorkshire Dales are much like North Yorkshire's in how far they go and their shape: no row differs by 5 points or more.
Measured on 1 October 2026 from the map. A walk counts as in the Yorkshire Dales when its middle lies inside the boundary. How these figures are made
Walks in the Yorkshire Dales, for your dog
If you live in North Yorkshire, it is your home county, and every walk in it is free, for good. Tell the app what your dog finds hard and it shows you walks that suit, with anything that might stop you shown first.
Anywhere in Great Britain, even with no signal.
Further is the Trekosa subscription: walks beyond your home county, and help on the walk itself. The OS Explorer map, 1:25,000, on any walk while you have signal. Press Offline on a walk and its map stays on your phone until you remove it, for when the signal goes. Drift off the path and you get a quiet buzz.
The first 250 households have it for good. After that, £4.99 a month or £34.99 a year.
Towns and villages
In the Yorkshire Dales: Sedbergh, Grassington, Hawes, Threshfield, Dent, Long Preston, Reeth, Orton, Ravenstonedale, Askrigg, Crosby Ravensworth and Barbon.
On its edge: Skipton, Richmond, Addingham, Settle, Ingleton, Kirkby Lonsdale, Embsay, Hellifield and Tebay.
Where you may walk in the Yorkshire Dales
Every walk we show in the Yorkshire Dales keeps to public rights of way, open access land or woodland open to the public, and one that leaves them is refused before you see it.
We checked the Yorkshire Dales for military live-firing ground and found none.
Councils can also make orders about dogs, and each council's are on its county's page: North Yorkshire, Cumbria and Lancashire.
Other parks nearby
Every walk in the Yorkshire Dales is checked against the same data as everywhere else we cover. See what we check and where it comes from.
© Natural England copyright. Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right.