THIS is a short-ish walk of around five miles with no tough climbs - although there is a bit of a scramble through a limestone cleft at the end. But it is hugely rewarding, with the kind of views you would normally expect as a surprise at the end of a lot of 'up'.

It starts and finishes in Conistone, and takes in some dramatic scenery, such as White Nook limestone gorge, that literally sneaks up on you and reminded me of the kind of gorges you see in Turkey, albeit on a smaller scale, and without the goats clinging to the edge. A short detour towards the end will also take you to Conistone Dib, which is a bit of a scramble, but well worth the effort, and there is also another scramble though a shorter cleft back into the village.

1 From the centre of Conistone, walk past the Methodist Chapel (on your left) along the Grassington road and after a short way, take the footpath off of to the left, signed to Grassington. Through the wooden five bar gate and then take the path to the left which turns into a cart track. Keep to the track, which does have footpath signs on it, and will go through another gate before leaving the wall on the right and turning into a grassy, more open track.

2 Quite unexpectedly, you will come to the deep White Nook limestone gorge. The path drops down towards its rim before going alongside it. The path goes off to the left - with the gorge next to you on the right - and climbs up and away from the head of the gorge to a ladder stile. Over the stile and then climb uphill, through a narrow crag, and keep on the footpath until you reach a five bar gate on the left - it can get very muddy at this point. The path to the right will take you down to Grass Wood and Grassington. But you will want to take the path to the left, through the five bar gate and join the grassy path straight ahead. There are a few paths here across the pasture, but you want to head for the wall at the far bottom.

3 At the wall, go through the gate and turn left onto the Dales Way. Keep to the Dales Way footpath as it continues through a series of gates, crossing over fields with both sheep and cattle.

4 At Old Pasture, you will see a lime kiln on the left, with explanatory plaque. At a four finger post sign, follow track to Conistone. At the next gate and finger post, you can take a diversion off to the right, marked to Conistone Dib, which will take you up through the Dib, a narrow gorge with something of a climb, before joining a footpath at the top, which will take you to the right, and back to where you joined the diversion. Follow the path back down through a narrow cleft and into the village, through a gate, back to where you parked your car.

Factfile:

Location: Wharfedale

Start/finish: Conistone

Distance: just under five miles, allow three hours

Difficulty level: Easy to moderate (because of a couple of scrambles)

Terrain: Cart tracks, moorland

Livestock: Cattle and sheep - keep dogs under close control and on leads around livestock.

Stiles/gates: Numerous, some ladder stiles which may present problems for larger dogs

Parking: Limited parking in Conistone, be careful to avoid blocking entrances, or on approach to village - be security conscious.

OS Map: OL2 Explorer