People are being asked to share ideas on how active travel routes into, and around, the Yorkshire Dales National Park could be created or improved.

The Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority has opened a six-week survey, asking people to submit their route suggestions on an interactive map. 

Active travel refers to journeys that involve some form of physical activity.  In the National Park, this includes walking, “wheeling” (wheelchair or active mobility aid), cycling and horse riding.

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

Responses to the National Park Authority’s survey will be used to draw up the first “Active Travel Plan” for the National Park.

A scene at RibbleheadA scene at Ribblehead (Image: VISIT NORTH YORKSHIRE) This will complement work being undertaken by Lancashire, North Yorkshire and Westmorland & Furness Councils, to develop more opportunities for safe and accessible routes and improve 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 10 years. 

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.

The survey will be open until Tuesday, November 22, 2025.