One of more than 40 named valleys in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, Dentdale is home to the River Dee which meanders through it from its source near Whernside as far as the River Rawthey at Sedbergh. While the valley bottom is carved up into idyllic meadows divided by dry-stone walls and dotted with ancient barns, steep slopes rise up to some of the highest hills in the National Park.
The dale is popular with walkers, and has several long-distance routes passing through it, including the 80-mile Dales Way, the 90-mile Dales High Way and A Pennine Journey, a more challenging 247-mile route inspired by a walking trip that guidebook writer Alfred Wainwright undertook in 1938.
The main settlement is the quaint village of Dent, known locally as ‘Dent town’.
