THE Yorkshire Dales is a source of great joy to many of us - and not just those who live or work in the area, but for the many thousands every year who visit to walk, cycle, ride horses or 'wheel' (using wheelchairs or mobility aids) across the network of rights of way.

Getting out in the countryside is a first class way to improve physical and mental health, even if the weather is less than accommodating; but the rights of way can be a bit challenging for those less confident - not everyone is happy to walk off into what can be a largely deserted landscape. People with mobility issues may also find they are restricted to the more popular places, and even then, find their way is restricted.

Guardians of the special area, the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority, is in the process of creating an 'active travel plan' for the whole of the national park which it says will hopefully provide better opportunities for both visitors and residents to undertake 'active' journeys.

Its aim is to link key settlements within and around the national park to popular visitor destinations and service centres with what it describes as a 'network of traffic-free and safe active travel routes'.

To help in the creation of the plan, the national park authority is asking people - both residents and visitors, to say what active travel routes they would like to see developed into and around the national park. Input is also welcome on how current routes - such as the Pennine Bridleway and the Pennine Way - are in need of maintenance, or could be made better.

People have six weeks to take part in the survey, which ends on November 22. The survey includes a map, for people to mark the routes that need improving, or to suggest new ones. People are also asked whether they are a resident, or visitor, to the Dales, how old they are, and what improvement they would like to see. Photos can be uploaded, to help with any description, and general comments are also welcomed.

Suggestions could range from infrastructure changes such as a crossing point on a busy road, a better link from a housing estate to a school, or the creation of a traffic-free right of way between towns and villages.

Responses to the survey will be used to draw up the first “active travel plan” for the national park. It will complement work being undertaken by Lancashire, North Yorkshire and Westmorland and Furness councils, with the aim of developing more opportunities for safe and accessible routes and improving key connections into and across the national park.

Member Champion for recreation management at the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority, Lizzie Bushby, said: “We would like to see walking, ‘wheeling’ and cycling become easier options for making everyday journeys, for residents and visitors. The aim is to improve routes and connections so that they are suitable and attractive, for example, for a family, or for self-propelled as well as all-terrain electric wheelchair users. We have an excellent and well-maintained highway network in the national park, but, at the moment, it’s only the most confident cyclists who will take to the main roads.

"Our survey on active travel is essentially a mapping exercise. We are looking to find out where people want to go and how they want to get there. It’s about identifying and improving routes which provide opportunities for local communities and visitors to improve their physical and mental health and wellbeing.

The work of producing an active travel plan has been made possible by a grant of £100,000 received from Active Travel England. All national park authorities in England have received the same amount of funding.

Ms Bushby added: “It’s good to see these resources being focussed on rural areas because up to now active travel has usually been seen as being about improving urban spaces for pedestrians and cyclists. This work represents a real opportunity to improve our locality and I would encourage people to complete the survey.”

The aim is to create a draft active travel plan by next March, to be refined and approved by the end of 2025. Once the plan has been finalised the intention is to identify potential funding so that the plan can be implemented over a 10-year period. It is hoped that Active Travel England will in future be able to provide further funding and resources to support both strategic, traffic-free, multi-user routes as well as small, so-called “missing links” to provide communities and visitors with easier access to active travel infrastructure.

Deadline for taking part in the survey is Tuesday, November 22, 2025. To find out more, go to: www.yorkshiredales.org.uk/plan-your-visit/essential-information/travel-information/active-travel; to access the survey, go to: survey123.arcgis.com/share/3f589e75090c496193107e266ae27104