Muker Hay Meadows-Easy Walk

A simple there and back walk to visit the famous Muker hay meadows in Swaledale.

On Location: 9th June 2021

Parking: There is a National Park Pay and Display car park as you approach the village of Muker from the east (Reeth). Other parking at the far end (western) of the village is free at the road side but limited. Please park considerately for local traffic and other visitors.

Refreshments: There is a tearoom and store in the village (check out their Facebook page in the link for opening times). The Farmer’s Arms is the village pub, check on the link for opening times etc.

I have often visited the wonderful wildflower Muker hay meadows, normally every year at least once. My previous blog post here was done in July when the buttercups were past their best. For this post I am describing a simple “there and back” walk which should be suitable for most people and families. This gives you the opportunity to visit the most popular meadows. Obviously the flowers are at their best in late Spring and early Summer. More information about the meadows and the habitat can be found here.

This is mainly a post with a selection of my images from the route which is fairly self-explanatory.

Route map: click on the arrow to play the route. Route files in various formats are available to download by clicking in the Plotaroute.com link at the bottom right.

No matter where you park in Muker you begin this walk by passing up by the Village Institute, past the church gate, and through the heart of the village on towards the meadows.

Passing by this fine little barn on the way.

Then through a farm gate with a stile the meadow scene opens up ahead of us.

Pick the right time of year and the fields are basically yellow with buttercups.

It’s not only the meadows which make this area special, it’s also these small stone barns. Locally called a Cow House or Cow’us, built to overwinter cows. Some date back to the 1600’s.

They make great subjects for sketches and paintings. It was the right sort of day for a watercolour sketch.

The footpath leads on through the meadows.

Narrow stiles and narrow paths to prevent damage to these unique habitats.

As well as buttercups the meadows are home to a wide variety of wild flowers including these bistort.

Following the path we pass through another stile.

Every Cow House seems to have it’s own character and design.

It’s a beautiful area, especially on a day like today.

The meadows are filled with flowers, and insects.

The pathway is flagged so it is good to walk on in all weathers.

Before long you pass through a final stile and meet the river Swale as it comes down from Keld. At this point you can easily carry on up the dale. But for this route we are turning round.

It is simply a case of returning to the village via the same route that we used to get here.

As I said earlier, it isn’t the most exciting route but hopefully one that will give you a good taste of the hay meadows of Muker. I hope that you have enjoyed it. Do let me know in the comments below if you have been and what you saw of interest.

Thank you for reading.