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I'm exploring options with a view to joining Bing on his trip back to the mothership....

If we break our journey up to Scotland and stay overnight with family in Wakefield, we'll need to cross over to join the M6 the following morning - it occurs to me that this might be a great opportunity to drive through the Dales on some fun roads so, if anyone knows the Dales well, what's a good (fun) route from the Leeds area through to the M6?

Looking on Google maps, I'm thinking of going via
- the A65 to Settle
- cutting north on the B6479
- joining the B6255 northbound to Hawes
- take 'Cliffe Gate Road' over Buttertubs Pass to Thwait
- B6270 to Kirkby Stephen
- A685 northbound to Brough
- A66 to Penrith
- join the M6

Does this sound like a reasonable route? If so how much longer will it take than taking the A65 from Settle to the M6 and then the M6 to Penrith - just want to get an idea of timings. Also, it will be on a Friday morning at the end of August so is traffic likely to be an issue or will they slow stuff tend to stick to the A roads.

Thanks

Perry

The A65 can be an issue with traffic anyway so you might be better off in the smaller roads.
From memory your route sounds a good one but I'll consult with the OH and check that's the best way

jaRED wrote:The A65 can be an issue with traffic anyway so you might be better off in the smaller roads.
From memory your route sounds a good one but I'll consult with the OH and check that's the best way

Thanks...

jaRED wrote:The A65 can be an issue with traffic anyway so you might be better off in the smaller roads.
From memory your route sounds a good one but I'll consult with the OH and check that's the best way

OH is thinking that a day off and a drive through the Dales sounds good - especially as the A65 goes through Guiseley en-route - unfortunately as it's bank holiday week, I think the roads will all be busy, so best be thinking about a nice vista rather than serious hooning (unless you're up at sparrow fart) and it'll probably be better further north.

Wherever you go in that area, I'd suggest you include the B6255 from Ingleton to Hawes - the section in your plans from Ribblehead to Hawes is probably the best bit.

Buttertubs is great if you haven't been over it before - you could carry on north via Tan Hill to Brough as an alternative (instead of east to KS).

From Brough it would be hard to pass up on the road to middleton in teesdale and alston (lunchstop on National day two) and A686 to Hartside en-route back to Penrith (or A689 to Carlisle) - but you'd be adding lots of time to your route.

I'd say Wakefield to Sterling via A66 or M62 is 4 hours.
If you go via Skipton as you suggest it's more like 5 hours
If you add on Alston then it's more like 6 hours (or 6.30 if you double back via Hartside)

OR

If you didn't fancy heading through Leeds for the A65 go straight up the A1 from Wakefield to Masham - Leyburn - Hawes which might save you 30 mins.

p.s. Ribblehead gets quite popular with local Pistonheads too - but they've generally gone by breakfast time!

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topi ... Ribblehead

Guiseley wrote:OH is thinking that a day off and a drive through the Dales sounds good - especially as the A65 goes through Guiseley en-route - unfortunately as it's bank holiday week, I think the roads will all be busy, so best be thinking about a nice vista rather than serious hooning (unless you're up at sparrow fart) and it'll probably be better further north.

Wherever you go in that area, I'd suggest you include the B6255 from Ingleton to Hawes - the section in your plans from Ribblehead to Hawes is probably the best bit.

Buttertubs is great if you haven't been over it before - you could carry on north via Tan Hill to Brough as an alternative (instead of east to KS).

From Brough it would be hard to pass up on the road to middleton in teesdale and alston (lunchstop on National day two) and A686 to Hartside en-route back to Penrith (or A689 to Carlisle) - but you'd be adding lots of time to your route.

I'd say Wakefield to Sterling via A66 or M62 is 4 hours.
If you go via Skipton as you suggest it's more like 5 hours
If you add on Alston then it's more like 6 hours (or 6.30 if you double back via Hartside)

OR

If you didn't fancy heading through Leeds for the A65 go straight up the A1 from Wakefield to Masham - Leyburn - Hawes which might save you 30 mins.

Thanks Tony, I'll have a look at the Tan Hill -> Brough option. If you fancy a drive through the Dales, feel free to join us

Time shouldn't be too much of an issue as long as we can stay with family in Wakefield, we should be able to leave there by 10am so most of the early morning traffic should have disappeared.

To get to the A65, I was thinking I'd skirt around south of Leeds from Wakefield by taking the M62 to the A650 (which appears to go straight through Bradford), onto the A629 and join the A65 just west of Skipton - is that a sensible route ?

PerryGunn wrote:
To get to the A65, I was thinking I'd skirt around south of Leeds from Wakefield by taking the M62 to the A650 (which appears to go straight through Bradford), onto the A629 and join the A65 just west of Skipton - is that a sensible route ?

I might have stayed in M62 until m606 to Bradford - through the middle of Bradford and avoid Shipley (as roadworks running there) but it's very similar.