Sulber Gate from Clapham

The route

From the village of Clapham, this follows the well-used bridleway up through Trow Gill and out onto the open limestone country toward Sulber Gate, the gate and gap in the wall that marks the approach to Ingleborough on the Yorkshire Three Peaks route. It's largely flat to gently rising throughout, with only 93m of climbing over the full 16.9km round trip.

Limestone country

This stretch of the Dales is defined by limestone pavement and disappearing becks rather than dramatic peaks, and Sulber itself sits on an area of exposed pavement that's as much a feature as anything else on the route. Ingleborough's flat-topped summit dominates the skyline ahead for most of the outward leg without you ever needing to climb it.

Why runners use this line

Because it follows part of the Three Peaks route without the peaks themselves, this is a good way to test pace and legs on genuinely representative Dales limestone terrain, or to combine with an Ingleborough summit push on a day when you want the option to turn back early. The bridleway surface is consistent enough to run properly rather than pick your way over.

Combining it with more

Plenty of runners use this as the warm-up leg of a bigger day, continuing on from Sulber Gate to summit Ingleborough itself, or looping back via a different valley for extra distance. Treated as a stand-alone route, though, it's an honest, low-commitment way to get a feel for this part of the Dales.

Getting it right

The pavement and open ground here look benign compared to the higher fells, but the lack of obvious landmarks makes navigation genuinely tricky in mist, and the limestone can be greasy when wet underfoot. Trow Gill narrows to a proper little gorge on the way up, worth a moment's care rather than running through at pace.