The newer route takes walkers over Whitber Hill, avoiding the worst bogs. Photo: Bob Smith/grough

Rescuers have advised walkers tackling the Yorkshire Three Peaks to use a newer section of the route that avoids a notorious bog.

The Cave Rescue Organisation offered the advice after going to the aid of two men lost in Black Dub Moss between Pen-y-ghent and Birkwith.

The pair, both aged 30, called for help about 7.10pm on Thursday, reporting they were ‘in a field and completely lost’ and ‘surrounded by swamp up to their knees’.

The team used the PhoneFind application which placed the lost walkers on the edge of notorious bog, which guidebook author Alfred Wainwright cautioned Three Peaks walkers to ‘avoid like the plague’.

CRO members made their way to the scene from Birkwith and Horton Scar Lane and soon located the lost walkers, guiding them to a team Land Rover at the top of Horton Scar Lane.

A spokesperson said: “Cold, but otherwise unharmed, they were driven down to Horton and provided with hot drinks.”

The team added: “The walkers were following the old Three Peaks Walk route, in reverse, seemingly unaware of the historical notoriety of Black Dub Moss – dub is an old dialect word for a pool, and probably a deep one, at that – which has sucked off many a boot from unsuspecting walkers, as their comrades dragged them from the nightmare morass.

“The modern route, over the shoulder of Whitber Hill, is luxury, by comparison. Other walkers, please note!”

The new diversion of the Three Peaks route was opened in November 2012 after work by the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority. The new path, which connects two sections of the Pennine Way via Whitber Hill, avoids the difficult sections to the North, over Todber Moss, Black Dub Moss and Red Moss.

Thousands of walkers tackle the 39km (24-mile) Three Peaks route each year, ascending Pen-y-ghent, Whernside and Ingleborough, attempting to complete the challenge within 12 hours.