Skipton Castle Woods

Wee 2 mile circular walk (strava) around ⅔ of the woods. Started at Bailey car park and just followed trail. A quick few steep steps and then on the flat although you are high up. Keep to the right but enough room for other folk to pass. Decided to carry on to the further set of steps after the first diversion to the lower walk which again is almost flat terrain. Hubby has a dodgy hip so we returned via the lower path which have the dogs an opportunity to go for a swim/paddle. Beware, the edge of the river is down a concrete slope and it took a few goes for the dogs to get back " on land" We put them back on the leads when we reached the weir. Plenty of benches to rest but as they were a bit damp we decided to plod on. The end was a bit strange as ended up near a private road and some houses. Followed the path and came out at top end of Skipton market. Very enjoyable walk, would recommend fir both hoomans and dogs!

Visited on Wednesday 02nd October 2024. Post Castle, Canal Trip & Market I went for a walk around Skipton Castle Woods, which was beautiful. The walk is well-signposted and accessed past the castle car park. Once on the path, it's pretty obvious how to circumnavigate but you can cut across the gorge to shorten the route halfway round. The second part of the path (assuming you travel anti-clockwise) is much more attractive with some wicker sculptures and a much more defined path that runs lower to the creek/river that runs through the woods and where you eventually come out adjacent to the castle. It was one of the most beautiful paths I've walked on.

Lovely walk uptonand through the woods. Skipton itself is a great little town, good food and shops.

Great place to escape for some peace and tranquility yet so close to the Castle and the town. We parked at The Bailey Car park which offers good price parking for the day (car park is locked at 6pm). The entrance to the woods is less than a minute from the car park. Once you are in the woods there is an information board which shows you the different routes you can take. You can have a quick walk through and exit near the town in around 30 minutes or you can take a leisurely stroll and spend a couple of hours walking around. Look out for the wicker sculptures, there is the archer, a deer and a horse. If you exit the woods towards the town centre you get a great view of Skipton Castle from the walkway.

A lovely place for a walk. There are a few different routes inside the woods so you can choose which way to walk. There are a few small waterfalls in the woods, plenty of water, and a few sculptures. Depending on when you visit, there are tadpoles, kingfishers, a heron, and many other woodland creatures. There's also wild garlic some months and bluebells galore in others. It's not a massive woodland, but still a decent size, and it links well to Skipton Castle, Skipton Wood, and the Leeds Liverpool Canal.