The 6 best scenic drives in North Yorkshire
Narrow moorland road climbing between drystone walls towards a wide Dales horizon
Six routes ranked on views per mile, including a 1,726-foot pass used by the Tour de France and a one-in-three bank that caravans are banned from.
1. Buttertubs Pass: Hawes to Thwaite
Five miles of road, a summit at 1,726 feet, and the best sustained mountain view accessible from a car in England. The B6270 link from Hawes in Wensleydale over to Thwaite in Swaledale climbs between Great Shunner Fell and Lovely Seat, and the Tour de France sent the peloton over it in 2014, which is why the tarmac is better than the width suggests. The buttertubs themselves are limestone shafts up to 100 feet deep beside the road at the summit, fenced but worth stopping for.
Drive it south to north for the Swaledale reveal, then continue west on the B6270 through Muker, Gunnerside and Reeth for the finest field-barn landscape in the country. The catch is width: passing places, no barrier in places, and sheep on the unfenced summit section. It is genuinely unpleasant in fog and closes in snow. Allow an hour for the 20 miles to Reeth with stops, and fuel up in Hawes or Leyburn, because there is nothing between. This is the single drive to do if you only do one.
2. Sutton Bank and the western Moors escarpment
The A170 climbs Sutton Bank at gradients up to one in four with a hairpin near the bottom, and caravans and large trailers are banned from the bank in both directions, with signed diversions in place. At the top, the national park visitor centre sits yards from the view James Herriot called the finest in England: the Vale of Mowbray, Gormire Lake in its glacial hollow, and on a clear day the Pennines 40 miles west. Parking at the centre is charged; check the current tariff on arrival.
Second because the view is a stop rather than a drive, but the road onward earns it. Continue east on the A170 towards Helmsley, then turn up into Bilsdale on the B1257 for 20 miles of moorland to Stokesley, which is the best-surfaced fast moor road in the county. Walk the Cleveland Way half a mile south from the visitor centre to the White Horse of Kilburn, cut into the hillside in 1857. Skip the bank entirely if you are towing anything; the diversion via Thirsk and Helmsley adds about 25 minutes.
3. Blakey Ridge and Rosedale Chimney
From Hutton-le-Hole the road climbs onto the watershed of the North York Moors and runs for miles along Blakey Ridge with valleys falling away on both sides and nothing but heather, which turns purple in the second half of August. The Lion Inn at Blakey, at about 1,325 feet and dating to the sixteenth century, is the only building for miles. Drop off the ridge into Rosedale and you meet Chimney Bank, a one-in-three descent with a hairpin, banned to caravans and heavy vehicles.
Third because the drama is concentrated in the bank and the heather rather than spread over the route, and because in poor visibility the ridge is a featureless grey. Time it for late August or the first half of September and it is the best colour in the county. Use low gear on Chimney Bank in both directions and do not ride the brakes. Rosedale Abbey at the bottom has parking, a tearoom and the remains of the ironstone kilns, which turn a scenic drive into an industrial archaeology stop worth an hour.
4. Ribblehead and Kingsdale
Take the B6255 from Ingleton north-east to Ribblehead and the Three Peaks arrange themselves around you: Ingleborough to the south, Whernside above the viaduct, Pen-y-ghent further east. The 24-arch Ribblehead viaduct, 104 feet high, is the landmark, and there is free roadside parking at the junction with the B6479. Return via Kingsdale, a single-track road from the head of the valley back down to Thornton in Lonsdale, which is one of the emptiest driveable valleys in the Dales.
Fourth because the Kingsdale section is genuinely narrow with limited passing places, a cattle grid and steep unfenced sections, and it is no fun meeting a delivery van halfway. Do it in that direction and in daylight. The circuit from Ingleton is about 25 miles and takes 90 minutes with stops. Add the Ingleton Waterfalls Trail or a look at Yordas Cave in Kingsdale, which is free to enter, open to the daylight and requires a torch and boots. Fuel in Ingleton or Hawes.
5. Fleet Moss and Park Rash
The highest road in Yorkshire crosses Fleet Moss at 1,934 feet between Hawes and Oughtershaw, dropping into Langstrothdale and Upper Wharfedale, and it is the emptiest tarmac in the county. Continue down through Hubberholme and Buckden to Kettlewell, then climb out east over Park Rash, a set of one-in-four hairpins onto Coverdale and down to Middleham and Leyburn. The whole loop from Hawes back to Wensleydale runs about 45 miles and takes two hours without stopping.
Fifth because both climbs are hard work and neither has anywhere to pull in at the moment you most want to. This is a driver's route rather than a sightseer's. Snow closes Fleet Moss earlier and reopens it later than anything else on this list, and there is no phone signal for long stretches. Do it between May and October in daylight, with more than a quarter tank. The reward is Langstrothdale, where the Wharfe runs over limestone slabs beside the road and almost nobody stops.
6. The coast road: Whitby to Staithes and the moor road to Scarborough
The A174 north from Whitby runs through Sandsend, past the alum quarries at the Ness, and on to the turnings for Runswick Bay and Staithes, with the sea on your right for most of it. Both villages require you to park at the top and walk down, which is the price of them being unspoiled. Ten miles, twenty-five minutes, and the best short coastal drive in the county. Combine it with the cliff at Kettleness for a view back over the whole bay.
Southbound, take the A171 from Whitby to Scarborough across Fylingdales Moor instead of the coast lane: 21 miles of open moor with the truncated pyramid of the RAF radar station on the skyline and turnings down to Robin Hood's Bay and Ravenscar. It is faster than it looks and the moor is exposed in winter crosswinds. Skip the temptation to drive down into Robin Hood's Bay itself; the bank is one in three and the bottom car park is tiny. Park at the top and walk.
Practicalities: fuel, snow gates and single-track manners
Fuel is the thing people get wrong. There are long gaps in Upper Wensleydale, Swaledale, Coverdale and across the high Moors, and rural filling stations keep short hours and sometimes close on Sundays. Fill up in Hawes, Leyburn, Skipton, Settle, Thirsk, Pickering or Whitby before committing to a high route, and treat a quarter tank as empty. Mobile coverage is patchy to non-existent on Fleet Moss, Blakey Ridge and the Buttertubs, so download maps offline rather than relying on live routing.
In winter, the high passes close without much notice: Fleet Moss, Buttertubs, Chimney Bank and the Blakey road all take snow when the valleys are clear, and gritting priorities favour the A-roads. Check the highways authority and local reports before setting out between November and March. On single-track sections, reverse to the nearest passing place rather than expecting the other driver to, do not park in passing places for photographs, and slow right down for sheep, which lie on warm tarmac at dusk and do not move for horns.
Before you book
What people ask before booking Hawes.
No, not on several of them. Caravans and large trailers are prohibited on Sutton Bank and are unsuitable for Rosedale Chimney Bank, Park Rash and the Kingsdale single track. The Buttertubs is legal but very tight. Use the A170 diversion via Thirsk and Helmsley, and stick to A-roads in the Dales.
The pass itself is about five miles and takes 15 minutes without stopping, but nobody drives it without stopping. Allow an hour from Hawes to Reeth with photo stops, or half a day if you add Muker, Gunnerside and the Swaledale field barns along the B6270.
From roughly the second week of August into early September, with Blakey Ridge, the Rosedale road and the A171 across Fylingdales carrying the strongest colour. Timing shifts with the summer's weather, so check with the North York Moors National Park before planning a trip solely around it.
The A-roads generally are, gritted as priority routes. The high passes are not reliable: Fleet Moss, the Buttertubs, Chimney Bank and Blakey Ridge all close in snow and can stay shut for days. Check the highways authority and local travel reports before setting out between November and March.
