Reading the Waymarker Colours

Out on the moor or halfway up a dale side, the small painted arrow on a gatepost or slate marker is doing a great deal of quiet work. It tells you what you are legally entitled to do, not merely where the path happens to go. Once you can read those colours at a glance, a walk becomes far less anxious — you stop guessing whether the gate ahead is for you or for the farmer's quad bike.

• Yellow arrow — a public footpath. Walkers on foot only. No bikes, no horses, and generally no pushchairs unless the surface allows.
• Blue arrow — a public bridleway. Walkers, horse riders and cyclists, but cyclists must give way to walkers and riders.
• Red arrow — a byway open to all traffic, which in the dales often means a stony track that is far rougher than the name suggests.
• Purple or orange arrow — a permissive route, granted by the landowner and not a permanent public right. It can be withdrawn.
• Acorn symbol — a long-distance National Trail, waymarked and generally well maintained.

You will also see plain coloured discs without arrows, and older county-style markers. The colour code still holds. If a route is marked on a map with green dashes, the yellow rim of a waymarker is usually its equivalent on the ground.

Fingerposts, Discs and the Humble Stile

Fingerposts at junctions carry a surprising amount of information: a destination, a distance in miles, and often a parish name with a path number, something like Hartlington FP 14. That reference is gold if you ever need to report a problem, because the highway authority can find the exact path from it in seconds. Photograph the post if you are unsure where you are.

Stiles come in many forms — the traditional stone step stile, the wooden gap stile, the kissing gate, the squeeze stile built for slim walkers rather than broad-shouldered ones. All of them exist to let people through while holding livestock. Where a stile has collapsed or a bridleway has a stile rather than a gate, that is a fault in the path, not something you simply have to clamber over.

Gates, Grids and Leaving Things as You Found Them

The rule that carries the most weight in farming country is simple: leave every gate exactly as you found it. If it was shut, shut it. If it was tied with a loop of rope, retie it. If it was open, leave it open — a gate left open across a road is a hazard, while a gate closed across a yard can shut a farmer away from stock at exactly the wrong moment.

Cattle grids save everyone the bother, but they are not always stock-proof for every animal. Look for a small side gate beside a grid, especially on drove roads. Where you meet livestock, walk quietly, keep dogs close and under control, and give cattle with calves a wide berth rather than walking between cow and calf. Horses are curious rather than dangerous, but a loose dog among them is a genuine problem.

Open Access Land and the Right to Roam

Much of the high moorland in the dales is open access land — mountain, moor, heath and registered common land where you may walk freely away from paths. It is shown on maps with a pale brown or orange wash, and on the ground by the open access symbol: a walker striding past a fence, usually on a brown or green sign.

• Access is on foot for walking, sightseeing, birdwatching and similar quiet enjoyment.
• Cycling, horse riding, camping and taking vehicles are not included unless on a bridleway or byway.
• Dogs are welcome on access land but must be on a short lead between 1 March and 31 July, to protect ground-nesting birds and lambs, and around livestock at any time of year.
• Closures can be imposed for shooting, conservation or fire risk; check notices at access points.

The right to roam does not extend to enclosed farmland, gardens, or land growing crops. Cross a wall only at a stile, gate or ladder, never by climbing.

Crops, Closures and Blocked Paths

Public paths are highways, and there are duties attached to them. Where a footpath crosses a field, the surface should be reinstated after ploughing within fourteen days — or within twenty-four hours along a field edge. Growing crops must not obscure the line, and a footpath should offer at least a metre and a half of clear width; a bridleway, three metres.

If you find a path blocked by a locked gate, a fallen tree or an electric fence with no handle, you are entitled to go round the obstruction by the shortest reasonable route, but only as far as is needed. Report it afterwards, with the parish path number if you have it. Diversions and temporary closures must be properly advertised on site, not simply implied by a sign pointing elsewhere.

Walking Well in the Dales

Good practice here is less about rules than about reading the landscape as a working place. Stay on the path where one exists, even when the ground looks firmer elsewhere. Keep dogs from worrying sheep, shut gates, take litter home, and greet the people you meet — a cheery word at a stile does more for countryside goodwill than any amount of signage. The signs exist to share the land fairly. Learn their language, and the dales open up to you with a warmth that rewards every mile.