1- Get trained. That’s imperative. Your feet, your muscles and all your body will suffer. After all you are going to walk the distance of a marathon and ascend and descend almost 3 km! You might hit the wall and it could happen in the middle of nowhere with no shelter in view. If it’s the case, just stop, relax get some energy back because you will probably have to carry on for a long distance before you can reach “civilisation” again. Before taking on the walk I advise you to go on some serious long walks because your feet need to be accustomed to such a vigorous challenge. You might be fit enough but it’s the walking that counts here so make sure your feet are ready.

2- Get the right gear. First and foremost you will need a good pair of walking boots. Don’t turn up with a brand new pair though as you don’t want to “break” them in on that walk which might cause some real pain to your feet.  The weather is not on your side in the Dales and can change at any time. So have waterproof equipment (jacket and trousers). There is a temperature difference between 3 to 5 °C every time you ascend one of the peaks compared to the bottom of the valley regardless of the season. A pair of gaiters can be a good option too as  some parts of the journey are really boggy.

3- Think about your timing. It takes between 8 to 12 hours to do the walk for the average person. Therefore daylight is your ally. You will have to start at the crack of dawn if you want to succeed. Maybe you should consider sleeping at a place near the walk? Don’t think that you can walk at night if you are inexperienced. Sometimes the paths don’t exist and you need navigation skills, plus some areas are full of shake holeswithout mentioning the bogs!

4- Navigation skills. If you have never done it before, you will need a map and a compass. The correct Ordnance Survey (O.S) map is OL2 “Yorkshire Dales Southern & Western areas” . The Yorkshire Three Peaks is not sign posted at all and some of the paths are not that obvious so a compass will be required on some parts of your journey. So don’t just be a sheep and start following other people because you don’t know where they are going!

5- Only take what’s necessary in your bag. You want to travel light as you don’t want to put some unnecessary strain on your back and shoulders. I’d say your bag should be between 3 to 5 kg max. You will need food and drinks essentially. I am not going to tell you what to take or not with you but when I go on a long walk, I always make my own sandwiches, take some nuts and dried fruits with me and put them in plastic containers. They don’t get squeezed and I can reuse my containers while foil or ready-made food packaging can be blown away. Same thing with my drinks, I try to reuse my plastic bottles as much as possible. The amount of water you will need to take can vary depending on the person but I’d say you should take with you about two litres of water. I’d take a bottle of energy drink too as you might need it to get your energy back towards the end. And remember only leave footprints and take pictures!

Anticlockwise –> Pen-y-ghent – Whernside – Ingleborough

That’s the most popular way of them all. If you are a first timer, I’d advise you to do it this way because the last descent from Ingleborough is not too steep. Remember your last peak will be the hardest no matter what so this way might put less strain on your body for the final part.

Clockwise –> Ingleborough – Whernside – Pen-y-ghent

That’s for really experienced people. Especially with Pen-y-ghent at the end because you will have to get down via a really torturous route and to finish with that while you might be exhausted could be really dangerous.

Anticlockwise –> Ingleborough - Pen-y-ghent – Whernside

That’s the way I did it and it’s probably the silliest of them all. Why? Because the first two peaks are relatively close to each other with very steep ascents and they will kill your stamina and just to finish you off you then have the long walk to Whernside. By the time you arrive at Ribblehead you are completely exhausted not to mention that the final part of your journey will be covered with steps on your way down from Whernside. It’s a killer!

Clockwise –> Whernside – Pen-y-ghent - Ingleborough

Again I think it’s a silly thing to do. The last two descents Pen-y-ghent and Ingleborough are really tortuous and you will need to be really experienced to do it this way.

Anticlockwise –> Whernside - Ingleborough - Pen-y-ghent

It’s a route that doesn’t make sense to me because you are heading in the wrong direction to start with (North-East) and I don’t think I will ever consider it since you finish with the infernal long walk from Pen-y-ghent.

Clockwise –> Pen-y-ghent - Ingleborough - Whernside

I think it’s a decent alternative route to Horton anticlockwise but again for experienced people only because of the tortuous descents from Pen-y-ghent and Ingleborough. Plus you finish with a rather smooth descent from Whernside.