The Ettendales were the valleys (dales) of the Ettenmoors that extended up into the foothills of the Misty Mountains. They were located far north of Rivendell on the western side of the Misty Mountains near the source of the river Hoarwell and were inhabited by Trolls.
In the morning of 17 October, T.A. 3018, in Rhudaur in their camp on a stony shelf with a rock-wall behind them Strider told Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin that they had went too far to the north and needed to find a way back to the south. He mentioned that if they continued in the same direction, they would get up into the Ettendales far north of Rivendell. Strider said that the Ettendales were troll-country and little-known to him.