Region
Dog-friendly Yorkshire Dales: complete guide
The Yorkshire Dales is walking country before it is anything else — limestone pavements and drystone walls, river valleys and high heather moor, threaded by one of the densest footpath networks in England. It sits right alongside the Lake District, and for a dog it's arguably the easier of the two: gentler underfoot, quieter, with the same depth of welcome in the cottages and an even stronger hand of walkers' pubs.
This guide leads with the cottages — twelve verified properties across Wharfedale, Wensleydale, Swaledale, Malhamdale, Ribblesdale and the Howgills, researched against the listing small print. River swimming spots and dog-friendly pubs follow. The Dales reward a particular kind of trip — walk from the door, paddle the dog in a river pool, end at a fire in a stone-flagged bar — and the whole guide is built around that.
Where to stay
Cottages
Twelve verified dog-friendly cottages, spread across all the main dales — stone villages, riverside, fellside and farmhouse. Each entry has the dog policy specifics — max dogs, pet supplement, garden status, what's actually provided — and editorial caveats baked in, including which gardens genuinely are (and aren't) enclosed.
Hawes · cottage
Miss Burrow's House
The best all-rounder on this list — a newly renovated Victorian cottage in Hawes, the lively market town at the head of Wensleydale, with everything walkable and two dogs welcome throughout. The dog kit is the giveaway that they mean it — towels in the porch, waste bags, and a dog-friendly welcome pack. An enclosed garden with a patio and BBQ rounds it off. Hawes has the Wensleydale creamery, good pubs and the Pennine Way through it.
Low Row, near Reeth · cottage
Swale View
The standout for a dog-led trip — a stone cottage at Low Row in Swaledale that markets itself, plainly, as a dog-walking base and means it. No stated limit on dogs ("bring as many as you like, even muddy ones"), no pet charge, and a genuinely dog-secure enclosed garden overlooking the Swale. Inglenook with a multi-fuel burner, an Aga in the kitchen, and the Swale Trail and Coast to Coast from the door. A rare cottage built around the dog rather than tolerating it.
Grassington · cottage
Low Mill Cottage
A converted 18th-century mill house on the edge of Grassington, sleeping eight across four bedrooms — a proper base for a bigger group with dogs, and unusually two dogs stay free of charge. The enclosed lawned garden is the draw for letting them out, though the listing notes the river runs close by (fenced, but worth knowing). Riverside walks to Linton Falls and the Wharfe start nearby. Confirm the free-dog policy at booking, as cottages.com's status shifts.
On the water
River swimming spots
No coast, but river beaches, waterfall pools and a natural lake to swim a dog — and, unlike the seaside, no seasonal dog bans. Our guide covers the best spots with the real small print: water safety, flash floods, and the one stretch of river (the Strid) you must never let a dog near.
After the walk
Pubs
From Britain's highest pub on Tan Hill to gas-lit village locals and smart gastro-inns by the river, the Dales do the dog-friendly walkers' pub as well as anywhere. Our guide leads with the pubs that take dogs throughout and notes which take them overnight.
Editor's picks
Best for…
Travelling to the Yorkshire Dales with a dog
The Dales are an easy reach from both the M6 (west side — for Sedbergh, Ribblesdale and the western dales) and the A1 (east — for Wensleydale and Swaledale), with Skipton the usual southern gateway into Wharfedale. From the Midlands count two and a half to three hours, from the south four to five. Tebay and Killington Lake services on the M6 are the best dog stops on the western approach — Tebay especially, with its proper grass and farm-shop food.
Once you're in, the thing to grasp is that the dales are largely dead-end valleys separated by high passes — so pick your dale and base yourself in it rather than planning to hop between them daily. The roads narrow fast to single-track between drystone walls, with sheep often on the carriageway on the open moor; take the passes (Buttertubs, Fleet Moss) gently with a dog aboard.
Two practical notes. Sheep are everywhere and lambing runs roughly March to May, so a lead near livestock isn't optional — it's the law on access land in spring, and farmers here take it seriously. And Dales weather turns the rivers fast: a microfibre towel, a boot liner and an eye on the forecast save a lot of grief.
Adjacent regions
The Yorkshire Dales pairs naturally with the Lake District immediately to the west — similar stone-and-slate cottage stock, the same dense footpath network, and the two regions almost touch at the Howgills, so a two-centre trip is easy. The North York Moors and the Yorkshire coast lie to the east for a contrast of heather moor and (seasonally dog-restricted) sands; both are in the queue for guide treatment.
About the author
Rachel Polden
Rachel writes about dog-friendly UK travel from mid-Devon, where she lives with two retired racing greyhounds, Fern and Maisie. A former commissioning editor at a travel magazine, she now spends her time pacing coast paths and pub gardens, paying close attention to the small print of who is and isn't actually welcome.