The first and last sections of this stage again keep close to the valley bottom, but the middle section of 5 miles or so between Grassington and Kettlewell take you onto the high ground on the east side of the Dale, where you cross some good examples of the famous 'limestone pavements' (areas of bare rock with grooves or 'grykes' eroded by solution to a depth of up to a metre or more). Sherpa Van is a well-established luggage moving service that covers many of the UK’s major walking and cycling routes. An interesting spot for lunch on the high-level route is by the old mine buildings at Blakethwaite on the Gunnerside Gill (milepost 99). In the unlikely event that you might want to cut out walking altogether today there is a train service from Glaisdale, Egton Bridge and Grosmont to Whitby, from where there is a bus service to Robin Hood's Bay.

There is a popular footpath (not part of the Cumbria Way) which leads up from New Dungeon Ghyll to Stickle Tarn, a tiny glacial lake just below the rock face of Harrison Stickle. The original Wainwright route keeps to the high ground, passing the evocative remains of former lead mining operations at the head of the Gunnerside Gill and at Old Gang Mine. Parking in Kirkby Stephen or Richmond, unless you arrive early in the morning, you would need to overnight and then use our bus service to transfer to St Bees to start your walk.Today there is nowhere en route to obtain lunch or any other refreshments until you arrive in Borrowdale, almost at the end of the day.

Many walkers extend this stage beyond Clay Bank Top to Blakey Ridge (milepost 161), which is the next place on the Coast to Coast route with accommodation.

At first there are views back to the shimmering sands of Morecambe Bay and soon the shadowy mountains of the Lake District National Park come into view ahead. If you are not confident of your fitness or navigational ability you should consider breaking the stage into two and stopping for the night at either Cam Houses (milepost 36.