Langstrothdale is the name given to the upper valley of the River Wharfe, starting north of Buckden, and curving around to the west, eventually reaching the source of the Wharfe in the hills north of Pen-y-Ghent. While Wharfedale has a wide flat bottom, Langstrothedale is a narrow, steep sided valley.
The valley originally contained a series of Viking farms, but after the Norman Conquest it became a hunting preserve – Langstrothdale Chase. The farms became hunting lodges, and are now either isolated farms or hamlets. The first of these, Cray, is at the far eastern end of the chase, on the main road between Wharfedale and Bishopdale. In the main branch of the valley are (from east to west) Hubberholme, Raisgill, Yockenthwaite, Deepdale, Beckermonds (at the point where the valley splits, with the Wharfe turning north while Green Field Beck continues to the west) and finally Oughtershaw.
The valley splits at Beckermonds. The northern branch carries the Wharfe to its source, and also carried the only through road, which rises up to Fleet Moss on its way to Sleddale and Hawes. At 1,934 ft the road across Fleet Moss is the highest in North Yorkshire. The western branch runs through private woods up to High Green Field, a former grange farm of Fountains Abbey, but just fails to reach over the watershed into Ribblesdale.