Swaledale is the northernmost of the main valleys of the Yorkshire Dales, and the most remote. Its patchwork of walled meadows dotted with stone field barns is the classic image of the Dales. In June the hay meadows around Muker and Keld are full of wildflowers.
The dale runs from the moors above Keld down through Muker, Gunnerside and Reeth to Richmond. Its villages grew on lead mining, and the ruins of mines and smelt mills are scattered across the fells. The Buttertubs Pass, a high road with deep limestone potholes, crosses south to Hawes in Wensleydale.
