Surprise View and Otley Chevin

This walk begins at Surprise View and, if this is your first visit, you will have a surprise indeed. By strolling just a few paces from your car you can enjoy a breathtaking panorama across Lower Wharfedale. Almscliffe Crag is a prominent landmark in the valley and, on a clear day, you may be able to see Simon’s Seat and even the famous White Horse carved into the hillside at Kilburn, some 30 miles (48km) away. With so much to see, it is easy to forget that you are only a mile (1.6km) away from the bustle of the Leeds–Bradford International Airport.

Chevin Forest Park

The Chevin has traditionally been a popular destination for walkers and picnickers. In 1944 Major Fawkes of Farnley Hall gave a piece of land on the Chevin to the people of Otley. By 1989, when it was designated a local nature reserve, the Chevin Forest Park had grown to 700 acres (283ha) of woodland, heath and gritstone crags.

Local people come here to walk their dogs and the broad forest tracks are ideal for horse riders and mountain bikers. The park is criss-crossed by any number of good waymarked paths and the walk featured here is merely one possibility.

Otley

To while away the rest of the day, you might wander down the hill to the market town of Otley, which straddles the River Wharfe and is well worth visiting in its own right. Thomas Chippendale, the famous furniture maker, was born in Otley in 1710 and it was here that the Wharfedale Printing Machine was developed, the first major breakthrough since the invention of the printing press in the 15th century.

Otley was granted its market charter by Henry III back in 1222, and the cobbled market square still occupies the centre of town. On market days (Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays) the stalls overflow along the main street of Kirkgate. There are weekly livestock markets and a monthly farmer's market too and Otley Show is a big date in the local calendar each spring. The Otley Folk Festival attracts music lovers every autumn when, over a long weekend, you can hardly move for mummers and morris dancers. Otley was famous – or perhaps infamous – for having more pubs per head of population than anywhere else in Yorkshire. For outdoor relaxation, Wharfemeadows Park offers riverside strolls, gardens and a children's play area.

Walk through the car park to find a path running along the ridge overlooking the valley. Follow it right and keep to the higher branch at a fork. Beyond a gate, ignore the trail off right and continue ahead on the descending track that leads to the main road.

Cross to a signed footpath into the trees opposite, which runs parallel to the road to a junction of paths below a small car park.

There, turn left along the middle path, a broad, tree-lined avenue signed as the Dales Way Link. Keep ahead, shortly crossing a bridge. Climb away, still keeping to the main trail. Eventually, at a junction of paths at the far end of the plantation, go through a kissing gate on the left. Take the rightmost of the two paths leading away, keeping ahead to meet another path running along the rim of the rocky edge overlooking the valley.

After admiring the view, follow the path left, joining with other paths to reach a kissing gate. Pass through and keep ahead on a broader track, the Ebor Way, which leads past the foundation remains of Keeper's Cottage. The undulating path runs for 0.5 miles (800m) through the forest to reach a bridge. Wind left and right as you climb away, shortly returning to the junction of paths at the corner of the car park. Turn right and reverse your outward route back to the car park on top of The Chevin.