The Coast to Coast route
Each year thousands of walkers, many from overseas, visit northern England to take up the Coast to Coast challenge of crossing the country on foot; over 190 miles in total.
Where the route enters the Yorkshire Dales National Park it passes the imposing Nine Standards Rigg standing stones, crossing a desolate landscape. This is one of the most challenging and remote sections of the entire route before it descends the watershed into wild and beautiful Swaledale.
Unfortunately the unintended consequence of all these walkers and their boots is severe erosion to the delicate peat that covers this boggy fell top. Previous attempts to reduce the impact such as recommended seasonal routes have failed to allow the ground to recover. So now we’re using a proven technique to provide a hard surface and defined route; this will have the benefit of allowing the unique vegetation to recover, as it will no longer be trampled by walkers trying to cross the soft peat over an increasingly wide area.
