Ride.
- Miles: 7
- Start: Thwaite
- End: Hawes
- Time: 16 mins to 1 hours
- Suitability: all bikes and riders (no motorways)
Buttertubs Pass is a scenic high road in the Yorkshire Dales, England, winding north from Simonstone near Hawes toward Thwaite and Muker. Along the way, it passes 20-metre-deep (66 ft) limestone potholes known as the Buttertubs.
Legend has it the name comes from farmers who, on hot days, would stop there on their way to market and lower their butter into the cool depths to keep it fresh.
The road is well-known locally as a tough cycling climb and was the second, and highest, of three categorized climbs in Stage One of the 2014 Tour de France.
The climb was set to be part of the men’s elite road race at the 2019 UCI Road World Championships, but heavy rain forced the route to be changed.
Jeremy Clarkson showcased the road in the “Motoring and the New Romantics” episode of the British series Clarkson’s Car Years. It has also been featured numerous times in the BBC’s Top Gear series for car test drives.
