Dales Divide. Tell me about the route please :-)

So I’ve unexpectedly got a couple of days free at the start of next week. My eldest has just finished his A levels so I thought I would maybe, erm, ‘treat’ him to something physically draining and uncomfortable rather than let him get pissed with his mates.

I was thinking about possibly doing bits of the dales divide route as a 2.5 dayer.
Not all smashy smashy.
Relatively  leisurely pace with time to stop now and again and generally enjoy ourselves.

Probably would be looking to do something like this
(I’m guessing a bit here, I haven’t worked out distances/ elevations):

Day 1: Get the train up to Northallerton on Sunday afternoon, maybe get food somewhere near Richmond, Bivvy towards Reeth ish.

Day 2: Reeth(ish)  to Dentdale. Maybe get down towards Sedbergh for food in the evening and camp.

Day 3: Sedberghish to Arnside, then follow the route back E to Carnforth. Train home from Carnforth.

He’s got a good motor on him (relatively steady away, but will keep going without moaning) so maybe the above is a bit under ambitious in terms of distances?

However I have no idea on the terrain or trail conditions. I’ve read it is best on a gravel bike or XC hardtails (I’m proposing we use the XC hardtails for this).

Any pointers / tips? ta muchly

Edit: I believe the route has been tweaked a bit year on year – is there a preferred version anyone has? I’ve had a look at this one but I’m not sure if it is the best version or not https://outdoorsgps.com/route/show/4262390_dales-divide

Pretty much all good, fast tracks, Xc hardtails would be fine. I’m sure you could knock it off in a day and a half, the extra day would be a nice leisurely pace.

There are a couple of bothies above Reeth that you could use for night one. Once you’re up there there’s only one more big climb before you’re rolling down Dentdale.

I’d add, I think Grinton/Harkerside to Sedbergh on day two will be pretty quick, TBH, especially if you’ve had an early start, as you tend to. You might well be there by lunchtime. There are two BWs from Dentdale to Sedbergh. Avoid the Frostrow one and do the little one instead.

Might be worth having an extension option if you get to Sedbergh with plenty of legs left. I reckon you could get over to Staveley area without too much drama and then loop down through some of the faster S Lakes trails to get the coast train back towards Carnforth from somewhere like Foxfield.

Awesome thanks Martin – great info 👍👍👍👍

The bothies at Reeth – Apedale / Sweet William? (I think there’s one below wegber scar also?)

This is the GPX file from this years dales divide.

https://1drv.ms/u/s!ApWxLFzQYaHZgqIheZ-_kuuyK88dbw?e=Vm6vnB

When I did it in april – the dales tops and fields were terrible – they should be better now if they have dried out a little bit.

This was also given out to riders: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/d/u/0/viewer?mid=1jsR-_T8wsVqPOV7Uss4gZCGLinxq9bI&ll=54.168869679448385%2C-1.463826047256589&z=8

The bothies at Reeth – Apedale / Sweet William? (I think there’s one below wegber scar also?)

Yes, never tried to get into the hut below Wegber, but SW has a flushing loo and a better view, so it wins!

Depends how far you want to get on the first day, but if you can manage to get up and over to there, you’re in good shape.