Skipton Explorer

The route

Starting from the middle of Skipton, this loop heads out through the countryside surrounding the town rather than up into the higher Dales, taking in the canal towpath, farm tracks and the rolling fields of the Craven lowlands. It's a route built for covering ground steadily rather than fighting a single big climb, with 391m of ascent spread evenly across nearly 30km.

Craven countryside

This part of the Dales gets overlooked by runners heading straight for Wharfedale or the Three Peaks, but the mix of drystone walls, quiet farm lanes and the odd stretch of canal towpath makes for genuinely pleasant, varied running. It's also a good deal quieter than the honeypot villages further up the dales, even on a busy weekend.

Underfoot

Nothing here demands technical skill - the going is mostly good farm track and towpath with some field paths that can be soft after rain. That makes this a reliable option when the higher fells are in cloud or the ground up there is too greasy to enjoy, and a good distance-building route for anyone working up toward the bigger Dales days.

Who it suits

This is a good route for building distance without the recovery cost of a hilly day, or for runners newer to trail running who want more time on varied surfaces without technical risk. It also works well as a shakeout run the day before or after a bigger effort further into the Dales.

Getting there and back

Skipton's position on the Leeds-Settle-Carlisle line and its role as the main market town for this end of the Dales make this one of the more accessible longer routes on the list - you can arrive by train, run the loop, and be back at a cafe within a few hundred metres of where you started.