Usage
The Pennine Way has long been popular with walkers, and in 1990 the Countryside Commission reported that 12,000 long-distance walkers and 250,000 day-walkers were using all or part of the trail per year and that walkers contributed £2 million (1990) to the local economy along the route, directly maintaining 156 jobs. The popularity of the walk has resulted in substantial erosion to the terrain in places, and steps have been taken to recover its condition, including diverting sections of the route onto firmer ground, and laying flagstones or duckboards in softer areas. These actions have been generally effective in reducing the extent of broken ground, though the intrusion into the natural landscape has at times been controversial.
Accommodation is available at Youth Hostels, camp sites, B&Bs, and pubs. However, these are limited on upland stretches, so when planning the walk it is sometimes necessary to choose between a long day (between two places offering on-route accommodation) or two shorter days involving an evening descent off-route (to a nearby village or farm) with a morning re-ascent.
There are 535 access points where the Pennine Way intersects with other public rights of way. The route is also crossed by many roads and passes through many villages and towns with good public transport. This makes it easy to sample a short section of the trail, or to split the Pennine Way across several vacations or long weekends.
Most of the Pennine Way is routed via public footpaths, rather than bridleways, and so is not accessible to travellers on horseback or bicycle. However, a roughly parallel Pennine Bridleway is also now under development (as of autumn 2005, two principal sections are open). This route, open to anyone not using motorised vehicles, starts slightly farther south than the Pennine Way.
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