Coast to Coast Path: Limestone Country

Friday 28th August 2026

On the day before this walk I had left the Lake District and reached the village of Shap where there are not many affordable places to stay for the solo traveller, so I caught a bus to the town of Penrith and, after spending the night there, I caught a bus back to Shap. This meant I didn’t restart the Coast to Coast Path until mid-morning with almost twenty miles of walking ahead of me. However, unlike while walking across the Lake District, the terrain was now relatively flat over wide, empty lands, so I was confident that I could easily cover the distance. The Coast to Coast Path soon took me out of Shap, across the railway line and up to the M6 motorway, which marks a third of the way across the country. I had left the fells of the Lake District behind me and, as I passed the now disused Shapfell Quarry, ahead of me was a very different landscape with limestone crags soon lining my way. A clear track took me into a vast, open landscape under dark clouds that threatened rain and on reaching the enclosed settlement of Oddendale I entered the Yorkshire Dales and turning right I set off into the open heather moorland. The easy walking soon led me to an area of limestone outcrops that was a fascinating place for me to stand while gazing at the plants growing in the sheltered cracks between the limestone slabs, but soon I lost all sense of direction and it took me awhile to locate the path again.

While light rain briefly fell, the path took me across a very gently undulating terrain around the head of the River Lyvennet before turning south to pass through an area where some young trees have been planted. I previously did most of the Coast to Coast Walk in 2010 and it has been interesting for me to compare and look at the differences that have been made to the trail since then with the biggest being national trail status, but seeing these trees planted on what was previously empty moorland is more subtle. I have also been intrigued by the many changes that have been made to route of the trail since Wainwright first devised the Coast to Coast Walk more than fifty years ago. His stated aim was to stick to right-of-ways, however, it soon became apparent that this was not the case and his biggest problem starts at this point. Wainwright took the trail across Great Asby Scar, a vast limestone plateau with little public access at the time, so eventually the trail had to be diverted around it. Initially this was along roads through the village of Orton, which added two miles to the trail, but the revised edition introduced a new route through the farmland below the escarpment. 

Wainwright’s original route is now technically access land so it could be taken, but the modern route is shorter and easier to follow, so, while it would be interesting to explore the original route across Great Asby Scar, I would need plenty of spare time and not while doing the Coast to Coast Path. The national trail follows the revised route and it is the route I took in 2010 so I did so again, though it is very dull as it crosses many enclosed, grassy fields. There was some compensation with the slopes to my left rising steeply to the tops that the trail original crossed while to my right, across the wide Lune valley I could see the Howgill Fells in the distance, with the weather surprisingly clearing at this point, though rain could still be seen ahead of me. Eventually the agricultural interlude mercifully ended in an area of moorland with the purple flowers of heather shining brightly under the grey, overcast skies. 

At a crossing of paths Wainwright’s original Coast to Coast route comes down from the hills but the modern Coast to Coast Path turns right at this point, so the meeting is brief, as I headed south. Wainwright originally took the trail around the northern banks of Sunbiggin Tarn, but the trail later took a wide diversion to the south along a road and then on what was originally described as difficult to follow and very wet, but is now easy going with wooden causeways crossing the wettest section. I enjoyed the abundance of wild flowers and heather on Tarn Moor, which was a pleasure for me to walk through in weather that was better than feared. Although I missed the Lake District, there was a lot to appeal in walking amongst this rich vegetation in quiet isolation, which you don’t get in the Lakes, and the gentler gradients made it considerably less tiring. Unfortunately, the landscape soon deteriorated to be replaced by a monoculture of grass grazed by the sheep of Ravenstonedale Moor, so I was relieved when a walled enclosure disrupted the monotony. After crossing a road I was finally reunited with Wainwright’s original route, which for seven miles had been going its own way, though there were still more variations ahead. I was now on a clear track running beside a wall, which was eventually crossed, only to continue following the wall. The Coast to Coast Walk originally crossed this field, but now the path goes around so as not to disturb the remains of ancient settlements.

With stunning views ahead of me into Smardale, the steepest gradients on this section of the trail took me down into the valley and after crossing the bridge I climbed back out with fabulous views of Smardalegill Viaduct on the disused Lune valley railway line. As the gradient eased heather appeared again, but soon I left the moor with more tedious walking while ahead of me I could see heavy rain falling on the Pennine range. This prompted me to put my waterproofs on, but the rain never came and I eventually realised that the wind was coming from behind me, so the rain clouds had passed over my head but not dropped their rain until they had reached the Pennine range. The access road for Greenriggs Farm brought me into the town of Kirkby Stephen at the end of one of the longest stages of the Coast to Coast and, surprisingly, I enjoyed it. The weather could have been much worse and while there was none of the dramatic scenery of the Lake District, the gentle gradients had soothed my body, which I appreciated. I may have left the Lake District behind, but the Yorkshire Dales doesn’t disappoint in comparison.