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Buttertubs

The Buttertubs Pass is one of the Yorkshire Dales' most iconic roads: twisting, turning, rising and suddenly dipping for just over 5 miles between Hawes and Thwaite. It's not a long journey but is one you want take slowly, so you can enjoy the views, and of course avoid ending up in one of the steep valleys below.

Jeremy Clarkson declared it, "England’s only truly spectacular road”. The lure of the Buttertubs Pass is so strong, that you may well take a diversion to get home to experience the wonderful combination of the open vistas of the Buttertubs, followed by the gentler route by the River Swale through beautiful Muker, Gunnerside and then Reeth. 

​The Buttertubs are best experienced on a sunny or clear day so you can view the surrounding scenery in all its majesty but even on a windswept misty day there's something very special about this route.
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​There are plenty of places to stop and pull off the road so you can enjoy the limestone upland, and views of Lovely Seat and Great Shunner Fell. At its highest point it's 1,726 feet above sea level. 
There's a seat by the road just before the switch-backs that take you down from Wensleydale into Swaledale - a lovely spot to watch the curlews and marvel at the Swaledale hay meadows far below. 

The Buttertubs Pass is named after the 66 feet-deep limestone potholes, the 'butter tubs', which you can see just off the road. The story goes that these curious rock structures were once used by farmers, who lowered baskets of butter into them to keep it cool on their way to market in Hawes. Some visitors see them, think they're odd and wonder what the fuss about the Buttertubs is all about. And then they do the drive, and it all becomes clear...

Find more places to visit in the Yorkshire Dales

Wharfedale
Grassington
Kettlewell
Burnsall
Appletreewick
Kilnsey

Bolton Abbey Estate

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Swaledale & Arkengarthdale
Reeth
Richmond
Muker
Thwaite
Keld
Buttertubs
Langthwaite
Gunnerside
Crackpot Hall
Corpse Way
Swale Trail
Wensleydale
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Hawes
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Leyburn
Masham
Middleham
Askrigg
Wensley
Aysgarth
Carperby


Ribblesdale & Three Peaks
Settle
Settle-Carlisle Railway 
Yorkshire Three Peaks
Clapham
Feizor
Hoffman
Ingleborough
Ingleton
Stainforth
Nidderdale
Pateley Bridge
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Scar House Reservoir
Coldstones Cut
Fountains Abbey

​Brimham Rocks

About DalesDiscoveries.com

This independent not-for-profit website was created using recommendations from Dales insiders' - people who live in, and love the Yorkshire Dales. 
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​Copyright Susan Briggs 2021
The Tourism Network
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Love letter to the Yorkshire Dales

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Image; Guy Carpenter
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