The River Wharfe drops through 65 miles of limestone country from the high Pennines to the Vale of York. Most people see a fraction of it.
While Bolton Abbey draws the crowds, Ilkley attracts swimmers, and the Strid’s grim reputation spreads on social media, most people miss the wealth of dramatic landscapes in between. However, along the length of Wharfedale, unobtrusive falls, gills, gorges, and cascades await those who seek beyond the well-trodden paths from the main car parks and established routes.
Wharfedale runs from Beckermonds to Otley, changing from limestone above to gritstone below. Upper Dale Falls tumble over limestone. Lower falls cut through gritstone. Each offers a distinct walk.
To truly appreciate what Wharfedale has to offer, consider these ten lesser-known waterfall walks spanning the dale.
QUICK FACTS
Region: Wharfedale, Yorkshire Dales
Best for: Waterfall walks, geology, wild swimming, Dales villages, history
Getting there: Trains serve Ilkley, Skipton, and Otley; Dales Bus services run seasonally to Grassington, Buckden, and Kettlewell; Bolton Abbey is a 10-minute drive from Skipton station.
Time needed: An afternoon per walk; a long weekend to cover several
1. THE STRID AND POSFORTH GILL, BOLTON ABBEY
Most people who come to Bolton Abbey follow the riverside path to the Strid, stare at it for ten minutes, and walk back. The gill path continuing north past the Strid into the Valley of Desolation is where the real walking begins.
The Strid is a six-foot gap in the limestone where the River Wharfe flips from a shallow 30-foot-wide river to a deep, churning chasm. Local accounts suggest that no one who has fallen in has ever come out alive. The name comes from the Old English word for stride. According to the legend that inspired William Wordsworth’s 1815 poem The Force of Prayer, young William de Romilly drowned attempting to leap the Strid in the 12th century. His mother, Lady Alice de Romilly, donated the surrounding land to Augustinian monks who built Bolton Priory in 1154.
From Bolton Abbey car park, take the riverside path upstream along the River Wharfe to the Strid, a noted narrow chasm. After viewing the Strid, continue north on the riverside footpath into the Valley of Desolation. Follow signs for Posforth Gill, where a trail leads upward through the wooded ravine to the waterfall. For a circular route, begin at the priory ruins, proceed through the Valley of Desolation, cross at the top, and return via the west bank path. This loop is about 7 miles and takes 3 to 4 hours. In early November, views of the falls open up through the bare trees from the main trail.
Where to Stay: The Devonshire Arms Country House Hotel at Bolton Abbey sits on the Duke of Devonshire’s estate with rooms overlooking the priory ruins and the river.
Worth Knowing: The nave of the original 12th-century Bolton Priory church was retained for parish services after the Dissolution. Today, it remains in use, with the roofless choir and transept ruins visible from the valley path.
2. LINTON FALLS FROM GRASSINGTON
Grassington is one of the most visited market towns in the Yorkshire Dales. The falls, a five-minute walk from the car park, are visited by a fraction of the people who come for the cobbled square and the cafes.
Linton Falls is where the River Wharfe drops over stepped limestone ledges at one of the easternmost features of the Craven Fault, a major geological fracture running across the southern Dales. The fault shifted millions of years ago, raising the limestone to the north higher than the rock to the south, and the falls formed where the river crosses the break. Just upstream, the Linton Falls Hydro occupies the original building of a hydroelectric scheme that opened in 1909 and powered Grassington before the National Grid arrived. The plant was restored and reopened in 2012, using two screw turbines to generate around 500,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity annually.
From Grassington car park, take Sedber Lane, following signs towards Linton Falls. Cross the footbridge at the falls (rebuilt in 1989), then head south across the stepping stones and continue on the signed footpath through Linton village to the Fountaine Inn. This circular route covers about 4 miles. In Linton, visit the village green with its 14th-century pack-horse clapper bridge, regarded as one of the finest in the Dales.
Where to Stay: The Devonshire Hotel, Grassington, is a well-regarded pub with rooms in the cobbled square in the centre of the town.
Worth Knowing: Fountaine’s Hospital in Linton village, a chapel and almshouse built in a style attributed to Sir John Vanbrugh, was endowed in 1721 by Richard Fountaine for six poor men or women of the parish. It still stands on the green.
3. CRAY GILL AND BUCKDEN BECK, UPPER WHARFEDALE
Buckden is the last village of any size before Wharfedale narrows to its source in the high Pennines. The hamlet of Cray above it has more waterfalls per square mile than almost anywhere else in the Dales, and almost no one stops.
Cray is above Buckden, with cascades behind the White Lion pub. Cray Gill and Cow Close Gill are most notable. After rain, the sound fills the hamlet; in October, water and wet stone dominate.
From Buckden car park, follow the Dales Way footpath northwest to Hubberholme village. At Hubberholme, use the lane and a signed footpath to ascend north to Cray. From Cray, take the bridleway across Buckden Rake, descending south back to Buckden village. The circular walk is about 5 miles and takes roughly 3 hours. The George Inn at Hubberholme is along the route and could be a possible stop.
Where to Stay: The Buck Inn at Buckden is a Georgian coaching inn with 11 rooms below Buckden Pike, on the Dales Way.
Worth Knowing: J.B. Priestley called the small church and inn at Hubberholme one of the world’s smallest and most pleasant places. His ashes were scattered in the churchyard at Hubberholme after he died in 1984.
4. WAIN WATH FORCE AND KELD GILL FORCES
Keld sits at the head of Swaledale, reached from upper Wharfedale via the Pennine crossing over Fleet Moss from Buckden. The concentration of falls within walking distance of the village is extraordinary and almost entirely unknown outside the walking community.
Wain Wath Force is a broad waterfall about half a mile below Keld. East Gill Force, just outside the village, drops 10 metres below the Coast to Coast path. Kisdon Force, further downstream, is a wooded gorge with a double-drop fall, making a superb short walk.
From the Keld car park, follow the riverside path downstream along the River Swale. After about half a mile, reach Wain Wath Force. Continue on the riverside trail to Kisdon Force, located further downstream in a wooded gorge. For the return, cross to the opposite bank using the signed upper path, enjoying autumn views of the falls and meadows below. The walk is circular, stays in the valley, and covers approximately 4 miles.
Where to Stay: Tan Hill Inn, four miles north of Keld on the open moor, is England’s highest pub at 1,732 feet above sea level, with rooms that are an extraordinary place to spend a night.
Worth Knowing: Alfred Wainwright’s original Coast to Coast Walk guidebook, first published in 1973, described the stretch through Keld and its surrounding gills as one of the finest sections of the entire route.
5. TROLLERS GILL AND THE SKYREHOLME BECK
Trollers Gill is a narrow limestone gorge above the village of Appletreewick in lower Wharfedale, carved by the Skyreholme Beck at the surface termination of the Craven Fault. It is one of the most atmospheric short walks in the Dales and is rarely busy.
The gorge stretches 400 metres, with limestone walls up to 30 metres high and narrowing to 10 metres across. Local legend names it home to the Barguest, a black dog of folklore. The beck drops through small falls and pools.
Start above Skyreholme village, where a signed path leads you to follow the beck upstream into Trollers Gill. After exploring the gorge, return on a circular route by taking the moorland path via the limestone outcrops above. The full walk is about 3 miles. Note: the gorge floor can be slippery after rain. The best access is near Parcevall Hall Gardens above Skyreholme; look for signs indicating the entrance to the gorge.
Where to Stay: The Craven Arms, Appletreewick, is a riverside pub in the village below the gill with a Cruck barn beer garden and rooms.
Worth Knowing: Parcevall Hall Gardens above Trollers Gill were created by Sir William Milner from 1928 on an almost completely bare limestone hillside. They are now among the highest gardens open to the public in England.
6. CATRIGG FORCE, NEAR STAINFORTH
Catrigg Force is the least-visited significant waterfall in the southern Yorkshire Dales. It sits in a wooded glade above the village of Stainforth, just north of Settle, and the path from the village takes about 20 minutes each way.
The fall drops around 15 metres in two stages into a deep plunge pool enclosed by limestone and tree roots. The upper fall is narrow; the lower opens wide. The surrounding gill is carpeted in wild garlic in May, the scent carrying through the trees even before the water is visible. The falls are on private farmland, but are accessed via a signed public footpath from the lane above Stainforth.
Walk from Stainforth village, cross the 17th-century packhorse bridge ovpackhorsebble at Stainforth Force, continue up the lane past the farms, and take the footpath signed for Catrigg Force. The approach through the gill is short but steep. Return the same way or loop up onto the limestone plateau above. The full circular from the village covers about 5 miles. Stainforth Force on the Ribble, a wide curtain fall popular with canoeists, is worth stopping at on the return.
Where to Stay: The Craven Heifer, Stainforth, is a village pub with rooms a short walk from both Catrigg Force and the packhorse bridge.
Worth Knowing: The packhorse bridge at Stainforth over the River Ribble is a Scheduled Monument. It was built in the 17th century to carry one of the main packhorse routes north through the Dales.
7. GORDALE SCAR AND JANET’S FOSS, MALHAMDALE
Turner painted it in 1815. Constable came in 1836. Gordale Scar has been on every Dales itinerary for two centuries and still looks like both paintings. The combination walk that takes in Janet’s Foss in the wooded gill below the scar, continues to Malham Cove, and returns via the limestone pavement is the full version. Most people do not attempt the scramble past the upper falls.
Gordale Beck drops through an overhanging limestone arch inside the scar in two separate falls, the upper one requiring a short scramble to pass. The gorge walls rise to around 100 metres. The mist that sits inside the scar on still September mornings stays an hour longer than the mist in the valley below. Janet’s Foss, a mile south in the wooded gill, is a single tufa-coated fall of about four metres into a pool shallow enough to paddle. The name Janet refers to the queen of the fairies, believed to live in a cave behind the fall.
Walk from Malham village to Janet’s Foss, continue to Gordale Scar, scramble the upper falls, and exit onto the limestone plateau above. Return via Malham Cove and the limestone pavement at its top. The full circular is 8 miles long and takes 4 to 5 hours to complete.
Where to Stay: Beck Hall, Malham, is a country house on the Malham Beck in the village, a short walk from Janet’s Foss path.
Worth Knowing: The limestone pavement above Malham Cove, reached at the top of the falls route, is the largest in England. The clints and grikes of the pavement are the visible surface of the same rock formation that the Cove exposes below.
8. MILL GILL FORCE, ASKRIGG
Most people in Askrigg visit for its television associations. Mill Gill Force, one of the most impressive falls in the northern Dales, sits a mile north of the village in a wooded gorge and is almost never mentioned.
Askrigg served as the fictional Darrowby in the BBC television series All Creatures Great and Small, which was filmed partly in the village from 1978 to 1990 and was revived in a new series in 2020. The village’s market charter was granted in 1587, and the market cross survives in the square. Mill Gill Force drops over 20 metres in a narrow gorge reached by a footpath through mixed woodland above the beck. The gill is deeply cut, and the fall is not visible until you are almost directly above it.
Walk from Askrigg market square, follow the footpath north past the old mill site and up through the wooded gill. The falls are reached in about 30 minutes. Continue above the gill onto the open moor for wider views across Wensleydale. Return the same way. The out-and-back from the village takes about 2 hours. In winter, after a hard frost, the gill walls form ice that lasts well into the day.
Where to Stay: The King’s Arms, Askrigg, is a 16th-century coaching inn in the village that was used as the Drovers Arms in the original All Creatures Great and Small series.
Worth Knowing: Askrigg was a centre for hand-knitting in the 17th and 18th centuries. The surrounding dales produced large quantities of stockings, gloves, and caps, which were exported through the wool trade. The industry employed almost the entire population of the upper valley.
9. AYSGARTH FALLS: THE LOWER FALLS
Aysgarth has been a visitor destination for over 200 years. Wordsworth visited. Turner sketched. The car park is busy most days from April to October. The lower falls, reached by continuing the path beyond where most people stop at the middle falls, are often deserted.
The River Ure drops in three groups of falls at Aysgarth. The upper falls are the most photographed. The middle falls appeared in the 1991 film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. The lower falls, the widest and in some conditions the most powerful, require a 20-minute walk past the upper and middle sections and see significantly fewer visitors. The river fans out across a broad limestone shelf, and in summer, the shallow pools above the drop are warm enough to wade in.
Walk from the Aysgarth National Park Centre car park, follow the path to the upper and middle falls, and continue to the lower. The round trip covers about 3 miles. Return via the opposite bank for a different angle on the upper falls. The light in late afternoon in October, with the oak trees turning gold and the water level up after autumn rain, is the best condition for this walk.
Where to Stay: The George and Dragon, Aysgarth, is a village pub with rooms a short walk from the falls car park.
Worth Knowing: The weir above the upper falls was built to power Yore Mill, a large textile mill whose building still stands. The mill produced cotton from 1784, later switching to flour. It now houses a carriage museum open seasonally.
10. HARDRAW FORCE, WENSLEYDALE
Hardraw Force is the tallest unbroken waterfall in England above ground. It is reached through the Green Dragon Inn, which charges a small entry fee for access to the gorge. Most people come, see it, and leave in 20 minutes. The gorge rewards longer.
The fall drops 30 metres from a ledge of Hardraw Limestone in a single unbroken stream into a plunge pool below. The overhang above is sufficient to allow walkers to stand behind the curtain of water in dry conditions. The gorge has been used for brass band contests since 1881, a tradition revived in 1993 after a long gap. John Ruskin visited in 1876 and described the fall in his journal. Wordsworth came twice.
Walk into the gorge from the Green Dragon Inn, follow the beck upstream beyond the main fall to the smaller cascades higher in the gill, and return via the field path above the valley. The extension above the main fall is quiet, and most visitors do not attempt it. The full circular takes about 2 hours. In the early morning in autumn, the sound of the fall carries across the whole width of the narrow valley before any other sound has started.
Where to Stay: The Green Dragon Inn at Hardraw is both the gateway to the falls and the accommodation. Entry to the gorge is included for guests.
Worth Knowing: The Hardraw Force Brass Band Contest, held in the natural amphitheatre below the falls, began in 1881 and is one of the oldest open-air brass band contests in the world. It was revived in 1993 and continues to take place annually.
PRACTICAL TIPS
- River levels in Wharfedale rise fast after rain. The Strid, Linton Falls, and Aysgarth all become significantly more powerful and more dangerous in spate. Several fatalities at Linton Falls have occurred when walkers misjudged the current after heavy rain.
- Dales Bus runs seasonal services to Grassington, Malham, Buckden, and Kettlewell between April and October. Check timetables at dalesbus.org before travelling.
- Use the AllTrails app for the lesser-signed routes, particularly Trollers Gill, Catrigg Force, and the Cray Gill path above Buckden.
- The falls are best in spate, typically 24 to 48 hours after significant rain. In dry summers, some of the smaller gills reduce to a trickle.
- Ordnance Survey Explorer OL2 covers the Yorkshire Dales Southern and Western areas. Download it offline before leaving the mobile signal in the upper valley.
- Dogs are welcome on most walks but must be kept on leads wherever sheep are grazing, which includes most open moorland sections above the gills.
RESPONSIBLE VISITING
At the Strid, stay back from the edge at all times. The bank is undercut, and the current is fatal. At Gordale Scar, the scramble past the upper falls crosses the beck on wet limestone; do not attempt it in flood conditions. At Janet’s Foss and Catrigg Force, the tufa deposits are fragile. Stay on the marked paths.
READER Q&A
Which walk is best for a first visit to Wharfedale’s waterfalls? Linton Falls from Grassington. It is five minutes from the car park, the geology is exceptional, the path is easy, and the town has everything you need before and after. From there, you understand what the Craven Fault does to the landscape, and the rest of the walks make more sense.
Are any of these suitable for young children? Janet’s Foss from Malham is ideal: the path is clear, the fall is shallow enough to paddle below, and the woods in spring have bluebells and wild garlic. Linton Falls and Aysgarth are also straightforward. Avoid Trollers Gill, Catrigg Force, and the Gordale Scar scramble with young children.
When should I visit for the best conditions? October and November offer the best water levels and light through the bare trees. Spring is excellent for the gills around Malham and Grassington. Avoid school holiday weekends at Gordale Scar and Bolton Abbey; the paths get crowded.
Is the Strid as dangerous as people say? Yes. The six-foot width is deceptive. The river flips vertically at that point, and the depth and current beneath the surface are extreme. Do not go near the edge. The path beside it is safe, and the walk is worth doing.
Can I wild swim near any of these falls? The pool below Janet’s Foss is popular for paddling and careful swimming in summer. Wain Wath Force in Swaledale has a good swimming spot below the main fall. Do not swim at the Strid, Linton Falls, or in the gorge at Gordale Scar under any circumstances.
WHERE TO STAY
The Devonshire Arms Country House Hotel. Bolton Abbey. On the Duke of Devonshire’s estate above the Wharfe, with direct access to the Bolton Abbey and Strid walks.
The Devonshire Hotel, Grassington. A well-regarded pub with rooms in Grassington’s cobbled square, close to Linton Falls.
The Buck Inn, Buckden. A Georgian coaching inn on the Dales Way below Buckden Pike, the best base for the upper valley walks.
Beck Hall, Malham, A country house on the Malham Beck, a short walk from Janet’s Foss and Gordale Scar.
The Craven Arms, Appletreewick. A riverside pub below Trollers Gill with a Cruck barn and rooms.
The King’s Arms, Askrigg. A 16th-century coaching inn in the Wensleydale village made famous by television.
The Green Dragon Inn, Hardraw. The only access to Hardraw Force is through this pub. Gorge entry included for guests.
Wharfedale has more waterfalls than most landscapes in England. The limestone holds it and releases it slowly, which is why the falls run through drought when other rivers dry up and why the gills keep their character across the seasons. Walking the length of the dale is an education in what happens to a river when the rock changes. The waterfalls are the punctuation.
