4.92mi Hawes Circular Walk
Updated: Oct 23
Hawes is the market town of Upper Wensleydale, surrounded by the hills and field boundaries of the Yorkshire Dales. Our 4.92-mile Hawes Circular Walk is the original GPS recording shown directly below the linked mileage-first title. Follow that Komoot map for the route; Hawes itself has a long history of markets, transport, cheese-making and industries that made use of the streams running down the valley.
Walk at a Glance
Distance: 4.92 miles, from the original Komoot tour.
Route: Circular walk in the Hawes and Upper Wensleydale area of North Yorkshire.
Start and finish: Recorded on the original Komoot map at the top of this article.
Visitor information: Hawes has public car parks and facilities, including the National Park Visitor Centre at Station Yard. None has been assumed to be the exact parking or start location for the recorded GPS circuit.
Hawes: A Dales Market Town
Hawes developed as a market town serving Wensleydale and neighbouring upland farming communities. The Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority describes its position on the eighteenth-century Lancaster–Richmond Turnpike Road, once a busy route for packhorses, carts and coaches.
The town's narrow streets, shops and market remain important to Upper Wensleydale. According to the National Park Authority, Hawes continues to hold its market on Tuesdays. That is a longstanding part of local life, linking today's town with an earlier age when farmers and traders came in from the surrounding dales.
A coachman's bell survives high on the wall of one of the old inns, according to the National Park's historical introduction. It is an intriguing reminder of the way the roads, inns and markets worked together before modern transport reached this part of Yorkshire.
The Old Railway Station Is Now a Museum
The Dales Countryside Museum is housed in Hawes's former Victorian railway station. The site tells the story of farming, home life, lead mining, crafts, knitting, industry and transport across the Yorkshire Dales, rather than treating the region as a landscape with no working history.
The museum itself has a history. Its collection began through the work of Marie Hartley and Joan Ingilby, whose interest in preserving Dales traditions and everyday objects led to the Upper Dales Folk Museum. The collection was offered to local authorities in 1972, and a museum opened at the former station in March 1979.
The museum's official website has details of its galleries, temporary exhibitions and current admission arrangements. Its notice currently says that the on-site café is closed, so it should not be suggested as a guaranteed refreshment stop. The museum and Station Yard are places to explore separately unless the original GPS recording shows them on this particular walk.
Gayle Mill and the Water-Powered Industries
A little south of Hawes lies the village of Gayle and its historic mill. Historic England lists Gayle Mill at Grade II* and dates the building to around 1784. It began as a cotton mill, later worked in connection with wool, and eventually became a sawmill.
The building records the way manufacturing changed in a rural valley. Cotton spinning and other textile trades depended on water power, but as larger factories elsewhere grew more competitive, older mills adapted. Gayle Mill still contains two workable water turbines, according to its official historic listing.
The mill is an important example of how Dales industries developed beyond farming. Mentioning it here does not mean the Komoot route goes through Gayle or provides access inside the mill; it belongs to the wider Hawes area.
Wensleydale and Its Wider Landscape
Wensleydale takes its name from the village of Wensley rather than from its river. The River Ure flows along the main valley, with smaller streams descending from the hills. Around Hawes, dry-stone walls and farmed fields are part of a landscape shaped by centuries of upland agriculture.
The Yorkshire Dales National Park is famous for its limestone scenery, traditional villages, livestock farming and field systems. The network of paths around Hawes reflects those older patterns of land use. The exact paths belonging to this 4.92-mile circular are shown on the original recorded map above.
Hawes is also strongly associated with Wensleydale cheese, which remains one of the area's best-known foods. The National Park Visitor Centre identifies the Wensleydale Creamery as a major local attraction. Its visitor arrangements are separate from this walking circuit.
Explore More Yorkshire
We also recorded a different circular route between Hawes and the neighbouring village of Gayle: our 4.3mi Hawes & Gayle Circular Walk.
For useful information about Hawes and its market, read the Yorkshire Dales National Park's town guide. The Dales Countryside Museum's history explains the former station and its collections, while Historic England's Gayle Mill record covers the building's industrial past. For current visitor facilities use the Hawes National Park Visitor Centre. Explore North Yorkshire Walks or the complete Yorkshire Walks collection for more original GPS-recorded routes.
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