Muddy Boots Walking Holidays

28/01/2025

Walking in the Lakes doesn’t have to be all about heading into the high hills - there are loads of great low level walks that take in stunning scenery as well, like this little 4 ish mile circuit from Tilberthwaite last Hodge Close Quarry to the stunning Cathedral Cave at Little Langdale Quarry that we did at the weekend! Great views, loads of variety and fascinating caves and tunnels to explore - we even spotted a snoozing bay (see pic!).

All of our walking holidays over lower and higher level walk options for each day so there is fantastic walking whether you like a challenge or prefer to take things more leisurely.

I’m just writing a blog on our favourite low level walks in the Lakes - do you have any favourites to add to the list?!

24/01/2025

It’s been pretty wild across the Yorkshire Dales National Park today but it looks like we’re on for some lovely sunny weather tomorrow (before more wind and rain on Sunday! 😬) so we’re hoping to make the most of it!

At this time of year, there’s nothing better than walks that end at cosy country pubs and we’re spoilt for choice in this area!

Here are some of our favourites around the Dales (pics below):

1. Lister Arms at Malham
2. The CB Inn
3. The Black Swan Ravenstonedale
4. The Fountaine Inn
5. Red Lion at Burnsall
6. The Punch Bowl Inn
7. The Blue Lion Hotel Inn & Restaurant

All of them are in fantastic walking country and offer a warm welcome, roaring fires and great food and drink when you get back! You can stay at lots of them on our walking holidays too!

Which is your favourite pub in the Dales? Have we missed it?!

If you want some specific inspiration for pub walks around the Dales, have a look at our blog: www.muddybootswalkingholidays.com/blog/2020/4/7/our-favourite-yorkshire-dales-pubs-and-great-walks-you-can-do-from-them

22/01/2025

It’s not long until our first guided ‘Social Walk’ of 2025 - Little Langdale from Elterwater (Lake District) on Thursday 20 March! 🥳

This fairly gentle 6 mile walk is full of variety and stunning views and is a great option for people new to this area or just looking for a little push to get out in the wonderful Cumbrian fresh air!

It starts in the little village of Elterwater and takes in ancient woodland, fascinating caves, a picture-perfect packhorse bridge, the crystal clear waters of Great Langdale Beck and the infant River Rothay, and wonderful views through.

Full details and booking can be found here: www.muddybootswalkingholidays.com/muddy-boots-social-walks.

That page also includes details of our full social walks schedule for 2025, with options around the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales of varying lengths and difficulties (some midweek like this but most at the weekend). A couple of the walks are already fully booked but most have a few spots left. Hope to see you during 2025! 😀

If you have a question, do pop a comment on this post, send a DM or contact us through the website.

21/01/2025

Do you still get out walking in winter?!

We love a winter walk - crisp frost or fluffy snow are the ideal conditions, but there are lots of walks that are still absolutely wonderful even in the more common ‘just a bit damp’ conditions!

If you’re looking for some inspiration for walks to do in the Yorkshire Dales over the winter, have a look at our blog - www.muddybootswalkingholidays.com/blog/2022/1/7/the-best-winter-walks-in-the-yorkshire-dales.

It includes these two gorgeous walks 👇👇👇, a loop around the beautiful waterfalls of Aysgarth and West Burton and the classic circuit of the Head of Wharfedale!

These are both stunning routes and wonderful but different in every season, so great ones to return to time and time again.

21/01/2025

Loads of great insider info about the Yorkshire Dales provided by Yorkshire Treasures here on Facebook and on their website. Even we could learn a thing or two! 😂

Would you like a little burst of happiness? Some ideas for things to do and places to visit that could make you feel good? You can get a free e-book: The Yorkshire Dales Guide to Health & Happiness! Just sign up to get monthly Yorkshire Treasures straight into your inbox, packed with insider tips - and you'll immediately receive our little free guide too. www.yorkshiretreasures.co.uk
Perhaps you can spread the joy by sharing this too? Thank you 😀

14/01/2025

Absolutely stunning walk up Ingleborough from Ingleton on Thursday - perfect blue sky and snowy conditions from the start!

Scroll to the end for views from the summit including over Ribblehead Viaduct, Whernside and to the snow covered Lakeland fells! 🤩

18/11/2024

🥳🥾Our new ‘Enchanting Borrowdale and Derwentwater’ walking holiday is up on the website and available to book for trips in 2025! 🥾🥳

As you’ll probably have spotted, we’ve spent a lot of time in Borrowdale recently working on our new routes and fine tuning all the details for this holiday, and it’s finally ready.

To be honest, we’re a little bit obsessed with it! Borrowdale is one of the most beautiful and charming areas in the Lake District and this route takes in an enticing mixture of crystal clear rivers, ancient woodland, peaceful lakeshore, hidden valleys, pretty villages and vast views.

There are higher and lower level options for each day’s walking, making it a great option for those who prefer gentle routes with lots of time to soak up the surroundings as well as people who prefer to challenge themselves by heading for the hills! Whichever routes you choose to do, you’ll be surrounded by some of the best scenery in the Lakes at every turn.

We can’t wait to get some people out on this route next year and see if you love it as much as we do, so do have a look at the website (www.muddybootswalkingholidays.com/borrowdale-and-derwentwater) or drop us a line if you would like more information.

12/11/2024

📍 The Wharfedale Ramble

We’ve started getting quite a few bookings in for 2025 and, as ever, our 6 night ‘Wharfedale Ramble’ route is already proving popular!

It’s one of our more gentle routes and takes in lots of the charming traditional villages of Wharefedale - Grassington, Burnsall, Linton, Kettlewell, Arncliffe, Buckden and more! - as well as the stunning scenery in between.

It’s also a great option for fans of the recent adaption of All Creatures Great and Small as it visits lots of the places used for filming the series, including Grassington, which was used as Darrowby, and Yockenthwaite Farm, which was Helen’s farm!

Drop us a line if you’d like more info or have a look at the website!

22/10/2024

What a difference 2 weeks makes! These videos were taken from (pretty much!) the same spot exactly two weeks apart and I think it’s fascinating to see the changes that happen in that period, especially at this time of year.

Obviously it had rained a lot more in the second video and the colours no longer have the end of summer greens but are fully autumnal.

This beautiful spot is Galleny Force on Stonethwaite Beck in Borrowdale. On both of the days these videos were taken, we were out running over a low level circular walk that is part of our new walking holiday around Borrowdale and Derwentwater.

It’s going to be a great one for people who like stunning views without heading up mountains, as the low level routes on this holiday really give the high level ones a run for their money!

14/10/2024

📍 Glaramara, Borrowdale, the Lake District

Out enjoying the autumnal sunshine in Borrowdale last week. We’re still trying out a few options for the higher level circular walk on our new walking holiday and the ascent of Glaramara is one of the possibilities!

It combines some stunning walking in the valley before a fairly challenging ascent up Hinds Gill to the summit and a fantastic ridge walk, with views down Derwentwater to Skiddaw, for the descent.

10/10/2024

Amazing scenes of the Northern Lights over Kirkby Lonsdale tonight! 🤩

These are taken with a 10 second exposure on an iPhone but they were visible to the naked eye as more of a pink haze! We’ve seen them a few times here but these were the best so far! The alert is still really high so worth having a look outside if you’re somewhere with fairly low light pollution.

07/10/2024

Gorgeous autumnal colours at Aysgarth Falls yesterday!🍂

We love this time of year when all the colours are changing, and Aysgarth Falls is a perfect place to see it.

We were just having a short stroll around the falls, but you can visit Aysgarth Falls as part of lots of longer walks, including a great circuit to Castle Bolton, which is part of our ‘Wensleydale and its Waterfalls’ walking holiday!

20/09/2024

Gorgeous day in Borrowdale yesterday doing some route planning for our new walking holiday! It’s going to be a good one! 🤩

Hope you’ve managed to make the most of the good weather this week - next week’s not looking quite so promising! 🌧️😬

21/08/2024

Beautiful Swaledale! 😍

One of our absolute favourite areas for walking in the Yorkshire Dales, we have two walking holiday routes through Swaledale – the more challenging ‘Remote Swaledale and Arkengarthdale’ route and the gentler ‘Meander through Swaledale’.

Both take in stunning views, traditional villages, pretty riverside, beautiful wildflower meadows and much more.

Despite being one of the quieter parts of the Yorkshire Dales, Swaledale actually gets booked up further ahead than most other places due to the limited accommodation and the fact that several long-distance paths pass through the area. So if this is somewhere you would be interested in visiting in 2025, it is worth starting to think about it now! Do have a look on our website or drop us a line if you have any questions about our trips

19/07/2024

What a great week! 🤩

Matt is back from his week away guiding the ‘Highlights of the Coast to Coast’ walking holiday’ with Adrian of . The trip was a group visiting from Australia arranged by , and , and it was the first time Matt’s done Coast to Coast guiding, but hopefully not the last! Thanks to Mark from for getting him involved.

The sun shone along the coast for both the first and last days of the trip but, despite fairly inclement weather in between, the group still had a great time and saw some of Britain’s most beautiful scenery, taking in three National Parks (, and !) as well as beautiful stretches of the Cumbrian and North Yorkshire Coast!

Matt’s now giving his legs a well earned rest with a couple of days in the office before the kids break up for the summer holidays! 🤣

14/06/2024

Great day out in the Howgill Fells last week working with to guide a group on a corporate team building day on behalf of .

The group was staying in Ravenstonedale so we planned a route straight from their door into the northern section of the Howgill Fells, taking in the summits of Randygill Top and Green Bell.

It’s a beautiful area dominated by the unique geography of the Howgills and with stunning views of the surrounding landscape. It’s also an area where you can walk for hours and hardly see another soul - bliss!

Technically in Cumbria, this area is actually part of the National Park. In reality, however, it is a landscape with its own identity, very different from the craggier fells of the Lake District to the west or the hills and valleys of Yorkshire to the east.

We’d definitely recommend adding it to your bucket list - or you can explore it on our ‘Food and Fells of the Cumbrian Dales’ walking holiday! 😁

15/05/2024

Our 'Meander through Swaledale' walking holiday is a gorgeous route for exploring a quieter (and one of the most beautiful!) part of the Yorkshire Dales National Park at a relaxed pace, so it was great to receive this fantastic feedback from a couple who did it last week:

"Just a quick note to say how much we enjoyed our meander through Swaledale last week. There was so much to enjoy with this holiday and we wanted to thank you both for everything you did to make it memorable. The standard of communication, choice of itinerary, selection of accommodation and attention to detail were all outstanding. This was our first ever 'proper' walking holiday and it certainly won't be our last. Indeed, Ros is already eyeing up your options for Wensleydale! Finally, special mention must be made for the BEST EVER walking guides we have ever come across. We loved the detail and clarity of these - so easy to follow and so packed with interesting local information. And we didn't get lost once! Brilliant."

Pics from the route below! You can see all the details of this holiday here: www.muddybootswalkingholidays.com/a-meander-through-swaledale-walking-holiday.

23/01/2024

Glad we managed to make the most of the beautiful wintery weather last week before everything changed! 🌧️💨

Our walk didn’t go quite as planned as the parking we were aiming for was a sheet of ice, so we quickly rejigged things and parked in Coniston for a gorgeous stroll up to the Coppermines.

It wasn’t a long walk but the whole area looked stunning, with streams partially frozen, icicles dripping off waterfalls and the mining remains covered with a pretty dusting of snow. We really wished we had time to keep going but will just have to wait for another snow day!