Ranked and rated, climbs you can tick off from the shop door
The Dales has more good climbs than it has any right to. Some are famous, some are local favourites, and a fair few will have you wondering why you ever took up cycling in the first place.
Below are our ten favourites, ranked from best to “still very much worth doing”. Difficulty is rated out of 10, where 1 is tough but manageable, and 10 is “find a lower gear or get off and walk”. Some are right on the shop’s doorstep, others a bit further, but still reachable on a day ride from Settle.
Strap in.
1. Buttertubs Pass · 8/10
The one most riders want to tick off. Made famous by the 2014 Tour de France Grand Départ, Buttertubs links Swaledale and Wensleydale and gives you the full Dales experience: open moorland, big skies, and a sting near the top. Climbed from Hawes it’s around 5km, with a couple of sections that bite. On a clear day the views are some of the best in Yorkshire. The undisputed king.
2. Fleet Moss · 9/10
The highest road in Yorkshire, and it feels like it. The climb out of Hawes is the brutal side, with the final kilometre kicking up well over 20%. Long, exposed, and not one to take on lightly. The reward is the descent into Langstrothdale, which is one of the finest pieces of road in the Dales.
3. Park Rash · 9/10
A short, mean climb out of Kettlewell that has broken more legs than this list should probably admit to. The hairpins midway through hit 25%, and there’s nowhere to hide. It’s the kind of climb you remember for weeks afterwards. Worth doing once. Maybe twice if you’re feeling brave.
4. Coal Road (Dent to Garsdale) · 9/10
Hands down the brutal side. Out of Dent the road kicks up hard and stays kicked up, with ramps that touch 20%+ as you climb out of the valley onto the moor. There’s no easing in and not much of a rhythm to find, just a proper grind up to the top. Get there and the reward is one of the best descents in the Dales: a long, fast drop down to Garsdale Station that more than makes up for what your legs just had to do.
5. Côte de Cray (Kidstones Pass) · 7/10
Another Tour de France climb, taking you out of Buckden over Kidstones and down into Bishopdale. Not the steepest on this list, but long enough to make itself felt. A classic Wharfedale climb and a proper test of pacing more than power.
6. Malham Cove Climb (left or right hand) · 8/10
Right on the shop’s doorstep. The road out of Malham village heading north kicks up sharply with sections of 20%+ as you climb past the Cove. Both the left hand or right hand routes deliver climbs that are short, sharp, and a proper local benchmark. Ride it as a loop from the shop and you’re adding another beast of a climb as you leave Settle… a brilliant ride that takes in classic Dales scenery.
7. Stockdale Lane (Settle to Malham) · 8/10
Literally from the shop’s doorstep. The lane out of Settle towards Malham kicks up viciously, with ramps over 20%, and tests anyone who lives in town within the first kilometre. A proper local benchmark that generations of Settle riders have suffered up.
8. Silverdale Road (Stainforth to Halton Gill) · 7/10
Another local one. Climbs up past Pen-y-Ghent from Stainforth, easing in before it gets properly steep near the top. The climb itself is decent enough, but the descent down into Halton Gill might be the most satisfying few minutes you’ll have on a road bike all summer. Bonus marks for being a 10-minute ride from the shop.
9. Langcliffe Brow (Winskill) · 7/10
Right on the shop’s doorstep. From Langcliffe, the lane kicks up sharply through the limestone scars and out onto the high ground past Winskill Stones. Short, steep, and a proper local benchmark that’s tested generations of Settle riders. Pair it with the Malham Cove climb or a loop round Malham Tarn and you’ve got a brilliant morning’s riding without ever straying far from the shop.
10. Dent to Kingsdale · 7/10
A proper hidden gem this one. From Dent the road climbs sharply up Deepdale with a wall-of-a-ramp section that catches plenty of riders out cold. Just when you’re starting to find a rhythm, there’s a gate across the road that you’ll need to stop, unclip and open, which puts paid to any momentum you’d managed to build. Get going again, push through the final steep section, and you’re onto a wild, high moorland crossing before the descent drops you into Kingsdale and on towards Ingleton. Not the most famous climb on the list, but one of the most satisfying.
That’s our ten. But hold on… we couldn’t leave out the fantastic Bowland loop, also within easy reach from the shop:
Bowland Knotts (Clapham to Slaidburn) · 7/10
A Bowland-Dales border classic, climbing high onto the moor with one of the finest views in the region from the top: the Three Peaks lined up in front of you. A regular feature of bigger Settle loops and brilliant on a clear day.
Cross o’ Greet (Slaidburn to High Bentham) · 7/10
Technically into the Forest of Bowland but firmly part of the Settle cycling scene. Long, exposed climb up onto the moor with sustained gradient and that proper “miles from anywhere” feel. Plenty of locals would say this belongs in any honest list of the area’s best climbs.
There are plenty we could have included: Oxnop Scar, Tan Hill, Greets Moss, the drag up out of West Burton, and a fair few quiet lanes that only the locals seem to know about. The Dales is full of them, and that’s rather the point.
Pop in if you fancy a chat about routes, or if you’re planning to tick a few off this summer and want some local intel.
