England
Yorkshire Dales
High passes, stone barns and some of England's steepest climbs.
- Road guides
- 4
- Miles covered
- ≈ 71
- Twistiest
- Buttertubs Pass
- Nation
- England
The Dales link long green valleys with high moorland passes. Roads like Buttertubs and Fleet Moss became famous when the Tour de France came through in 2014, and they reward anyone who enjoys proper gradients and big views.
Narrow, steep, often single-track passes between dales, joined by flowing valley B-roads. Grids, gates and loose livestock are normal.
Road guides
Roads in the Yorkshire Dales
Buttertubs Pass
Buttertubs Pass links Wensleydale and Swaledale over high moor, named after the deep limestone potholes beside the road. Jeremy Clarkson once called it England's only truly spectacular road, and it lives up to the hype.
Fleet Moss
Fleet Moss is one of the highest roads in Yorkshire and among the steepest climbs in the Dales. It links Wensleydale to Wharfedale over lonely moorland via the tiny hamlets of Langstrothdale.
Swaledale Road
The B6270 follows the Swale from Richmond through Reeth, Muker and Keld, then climbs over the watershed to Nateby and Kirkby Stephen. It is the Dales at their most beautiful and a joy on two wheels.
Skipton to Harrogate
The A59 crosses the edge of the Dales via Bolton Abbey and Blubberhouses Moor. It is a fast, open main road with great sweepers — and one where speed enforcement and safety campaigns are very visible.