YORKSHIRE DALES

Awarded International Dark Sky Reserve status in 2020, Yorkshire’s Dales are one of the UK’s most sparkling places for star spotting

Sloping fields and dry-stone walls. Swaledale sheep and brown hares. Low-slung hills and glassy streams. In the daytime, the Yorkshire Dales encapsulate a kind of storybook version of rural England, which is precisely why so many visitors come calling. Depending on your predilection, you’ll find ready supplies of everything from fell-running trails to top-notch tearooms. But when the sun goes down, the Dales take on an altogether dierent appeal.

A er a concerted local eort, the national park was awarded International Dark Sky Reserve status in

2020, thanks to large swathes of the map being almost completely free of light pollution. Four locations have been designated as Dark Sky Discovery Sites, including the visitor centres at Hawes and Malham, the car park at Buckden, and the highest pub in Britain — the remote Tan Hill Inn. Meanwhile, another great stargazing spot is in the west of the park, in the area around Ribblehead Viaduct (which forms part of the fabled Settle to Carlisle railway line).

These days, of course, astronomy-based tourism is very much a thing. More than 20 business around the park are now recognised as ‘Dark Sky Friendly’ — from camping and glamping sites to B&Bs and hotels — and not only provide equipment and tips, but take steps to reduce their own light pollution.

But if you really want to make the most of the Dales’ post-sundown potential, try to come calling during the park’s Dark Skies Festivals, which take place annually around February and March (10-26 February in 2023). Stretching over two weeks, it includes night-time activities as diverse as photography workshops, group fell-runs, mindfulness, nocturnal wildlife trails and canoeing. darkskiesnationalparks.org.uk