'Most people are lovely, but we do get irresponsible visitors'

"We want people to come and enjoy the Dales - it's the most beautiful place - but please just be respectful and stick to the rules of the Yorkshire Dales National Park", says Lisa Bowerman, one of the business owners and community leaders in North Yorkshire's two national parks who have called on tourists to act responsibly while visiting during the summer holidays.

High up between Wharfedale and Nidderdale, Bowerman and her team are making final preparations for a busy summer holiday season at Stump Cross Caverns - a vast cave system discovered in 1860 and which has been a privately-owned and popular visitor attraction since the early 1900s.

Bowerman says that while the boost to visitor numbers the school holidays bring to such attractions in the Yorkshire Dales National Park and the North York Moors National Park is always welcome, it can bring problems, too.

"While most people are lovely, we do get some irresponsible visitors," she says.

"We're just asking people to show a bit of extra thought."

Visitors to the two national parks are being asked by Bowerman and others to take care by doing such things as avoiding littering, parking vehicles responsibly, keeping dogs under control and not using disposable barbecues which risk starting a fire.

In 2024, Bowerman and her now fiancee Nick handed responsibility for business decisions to their son, Oliver, allowing her more time to concentrate on the creative and educational side of running the caverns.

"That's why I've got a bison bone weaved into my hair," she laughs.

Based on last year's visitor numbers, and new features at the caverns, Bowerman says 2026 could be the attraction's busiest ever summer.

A total of 30 staff work there during the holiday season, with 20 of those kept on over the winter.

Bowerman says she is "always excited to see a busy summer day, because that means we'll be able to get through another week in the winter", adding that the six-week school holidays are "essential to get us through the rest of the year".

"We want people to come and enjoy the Dales, it's the most beautiful place," Bowerman adds.

"But please just be respectful and stick to the rules of the Yorkshire Dales National Park. That's the main thing."

"By doing that, everyone stays safe and the Dales are protected for generations to come. We all share that responsibility."

North Yorkshire Conservative councillor Richard Foster is another person calling for visitors to take care when visiting North Yorkshire's national parks.

Foster is one of those backing calls for a ban on disposable barbecues , as the Dales and North York Moors face an increased wildfire risk.

"Have a barbecue at home," he urges.

"Come to the Dales, but bring a picnic. Why be a fire risk?" Foster asks.

As part of his role at the council, he has responsibility for managing the environment, and the division he represents, Wharfedale, includes the village of Burnsall, where there have been problems with tourists dumping litter and parking irresponsibly.

As he walks across the village green, a worker from the Dales National Park is busy with bin-bag and grabber, scraping up any stray bits of litter.

The Yorkshire Dales economy is "first and foremost" based on tourism and agriculture, so it is "essential" that people come and visit the area, Foster says.

"We love people coming to the Dales, we love living here and we want people to come and enjoy the local area.

"So we need good tourism, which is what most people bring. But there are some who you wouldn't imagine they live that way at home, with them leaving litter behind.

"That litter is dangerous for wildlife and livestock and if it wasn't for local people getting on and clearing it up we would have serious issues.

"Most nights, people here will take a bag out with them and when they come back it's full. It's a really serious issue."

Anna Swaytin and Muzzy Petra, visiting the Yorkshire Dales from Burma, are shocked to hear the area has a problem with tourists leaving litter behind.

"That's such a shame. I have never been to a countryside this beautiful and want it to stay this way," Swaytin says.

"The river, the parks - everyone should take care of them."

Meanwhile, Petra points out that the Dales are a workplace and a home to many people, as well as being a stunning national park that people want to visit.

"You wouldn't go to someone's house after being invited and then just trash it and leave it," he says.

"It's just well mannered to clean up and leave it looking beautiful.

"That's the reason you went there in the first place, why wouldn't you want to keep it that way?"

A short distance across Burnsall's village green, Jessica Beeson is paddling in the cooling waters of the River Wharfe with her young son, Cameron.

Originally from the New Forest, Beeson now lives in Skipton with her young family, and she believes a policy introduced in her native Hampshire would work well in the Dales.

"The New Forest has banned barbecues completely. I think it's a really good idea," she says.

"There's no need for barbecues, especially when they cause such a fire risk. I don't see any issue with a ban. Just bring a picnic."

Beeson says tourism is "massively important" for the Dales, especially for its smaller villages, like Burnsall.

She adds: "I live in Skipton. It's amazing in the summer how many differerent accents and languages you hear.

"It would put you off coming if you visited a place and found lots of litter and rubbish.

"That's never been my experience, but I think that's because locals have taken it on themselves to do litter-picks.

"It shouldn't be on the residents, it should be on the visitors."

A 50-mile, cross-country drive away is North Yorkshire Council's Kirkbymoorside and Dales division, represented by Conservative councillor Greg White.

His patch takes in large parts of the North York Moors National Park, currently on wildfire alert due to the recent long spell of dry weather.

White knows about both fire risk - he works as a chimney sweep - and tourism, as he and his wife run a bed and breakfast from their home in the village of Lastingham.

He says: "Tourism is extremely important. We need people to come and visit the moors, to enjoy them and enjoy them responsibly.

"It's good for people's mental and physical wellbeing to visit, but we ask them to get behind the Don't Spark Disaster campaign the national park is running."

That campaign urges people not to light campfires and barbecues, not to leave litter, especially glass bottles, and not to discard cigarettes.

"If people do those things, we will have another fire," White says, referring to the devastating fire on the North York Moors last year which burned for more than 40 days.

The blaze on Langdale and Fylingdales moors was likely to have been caused by cooking with a naked flame, according to North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service.

A recent report also confirmed a second fire 1.8 miles (3km) away from the first was caused by a smoker who dropped a cigarette after stopping to watch the first fire.

"The fire last summer was devastating. It will take a lot of money and a lot of years just to mitigate the damage done," White says.

"It will take centuries to replace the peat that was lost. Earlier this month we had a fire at Chop Gate, caused, we think, by a barbecue.

"It was only due to the rapid intervention of the fire brigade and 30 volunteer gamekeepers and farmers that another major catastrophe was averted.

"Even then eight, acres of moorland were destroyed.

"People are worried, so please: do come, enjoy the moors, but please stop lighting fires."

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