Distance Covered: 6 miles Time to complete walk: 3 hours
Safety Tips: The drive to this beautiful part of Swaledale can be bit of a white knuckle ride. Give yourself plenty of time to ensure you finish the walk in daylight. The Pennine Way part of the walk can be perilous with rocky loose stones but also with amazing views. Complete this walk in the summer.
A walk with beautiful cascading waterfalls and epic panoramic views of Swaledale. The drive to the remote village of Keld is on winding country roads and an adventure in itself. Give yourself plenty of time for the walk and ensure you complete the walk in sunny dry weather as the rocky path of the Pennine Way can be precarious if the path is muddy or slippery.
The Keld Walk
Getting There
If travelling from Middlesbrough, take the A66 to Scotch Corner then take the A6108 through Richmond and then follow it and look for a right turn off to Reeth. Exit Reeth and take the B6270 and follow this windy country road until you eventually come to Keld. Parking can be found at the Park Lodge carpark further into Keld.
Map of the Keld walk
The Walk
From the car park walk ahead down a gravel path signed Muker. Continue along the path as it rises ignoring the path that goes down to the left. Go through a gate, pass a sign to Kilsdon Upper Force and continue on the path which carries on below a crag and to a signpost.
Turn right which is on the Penine Way and go up to a gap in the wall. and to another signpost.
Pennine Way
The path can be slippy and precarious in frost or after rain, so take special care negotiating the rocky path. Follow the path as it goes over rocky ground and slopes. Cross a ladder stile as the path starts to descend. You will have amazing views as you follow the path. You will cross over more stiles.
Stunning Views
Go down to a signpost and you will come across a signpost to the Pennine Way. Ignore that path and join a walled track signed Muker. The track is gravelled and works its way down to the village of Muker.
Gravel Path
You will pass a house and then to your left look for a path signed Public Footpath. If you struggle to find it as long as you don't go down into the main village of Muker you will find it. Follow the path through six gates towards the River Swale.
Path to the river
Turn a sharp right when you reach the river and look for a footbridge over the river.
Footbridge over the river
Ascend steps beyond the footbridge and turn left where it is signed Keld. Follow the clear track along the valley, until it curves right into Swimmer Gill. Take a short detour to see the waterfall. It really is beautiful.
Swimmers Gill
Cross the footbridge and head up to a gate.
Track around an old barn
Start climbing the track and follow it around an old barn. Continue steadily downhill and you will come to a gate above East Gill Force. Fork left when you come to a wooden seat and you will then be able to admire the waterfalls.
East Gill Force waterfall
After you have visited the waterfalls follow the path over a footbridge, then bear right uphill and you will be on the track you started you walk on. Head back to Keld for some food and refreshment!
Cross the footbridge
Keld
Keld is a village in the English county of North Yorkshire. It is in Swaledale, in the district of Richmondshire and the Yorkshire Dales National Park. The name derives from the Viking word Kelda meaning a spring and the village was once called Appletre Kelde - the spring near the apple trees.
Keld is the crossing point of the Coast to Coast Walk and the Pennine Way long-distance footpaths at the head of Swaledale. At the height of the lead-mining industry in Swaledale in the late 19th century the village had a population of around 6,000. During this period a series of remarkable buildings - now Grade II listed - were erected: they include the Congregational and Methodist chapels, the school and the Literary Institute.
Keld has no shop except at the campsite. There used to be a Youth Hostel but it closed in October 2008 and the building has since reopened as Keld Lodge, a hotel with bar and restaurant. There is a series of four waterfalls close to Keld in a limestone gorge on the River Swale: Kisdon Force, East Gill Force, Catrake Force and Wain Wath Force.
