Miles without stiles

All visitors and residents of the Yorkshire Dales National Park have the right to enjoy some access to the countryside and should be given the support to decide for themselves if a public right of way or opportunities for recreation are suited for their individual abilities.

In 2006 an audit of the public rights of way network in the Yorkshire Dales National Park began. The aim of the audit was to identify the barriers that make it impossible or difficult for disabled people to access public rights of way, and to suggest practical measures for removing or overcoming them within the spirit of the Disability Discrimination Act, and any other relevant guidance, legislation or case law provisions.

As there are 2,123km of public rights of way in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, only those routes with a gradient of 1:8, or less, were checked in the field.

The map below illustrates the results from the audit. Each audited route has an overall grading. In addition, each piece of infrastructure on the audited routes has been recorded and measured to provide users with as much information as possible. The colour coding of routes and infrastructure (depicted by a star) is described by the box below the map.

We aim to continue improving the accessibility of the public rights of way in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. If you have any comments or suggestions, then please contact the Access Development Officer on 01969 652363.