The Yorkshire Dales: Malham Cove, Ribblehead, History & the Best Walks

The Yorkshire Dales are the valleys, or dales, of the central Pennines, mostly in North Yorkshire and reaching into Cumbria: green valley floors criss-crossed by dry-stone walls and dotted with stone field barns, between wide moorland tops. They became a National Park in 1954, and the park was extended in 2016.

Why The Yorkshire Dales Is Special

The Dales are the classic English upland landscape, and limestone is the secret of their beauty. It forms white cliffs, scars and pavements, swallows rivers into caves and potholes, and sends them out again as waterfalls.

Each dale has its own character, from the wild upper reaches of Swaledale with its hay meadows to broad Wensleydale, home of the famous cheese, and Wharfedale with the priory ruins at Bolton Abbey.

The History of The Yorkshire Dales

Malham Cove is the great natural wonder of the southern Dales. At the end of the last Ice Age, meltwater poured over its lip in a waterfall about 80 metres high and more than 300 metres wide; today the river emerges from the foot of the cliff, and on top lies a famous limestone pavement of blocks and fissures.

The pavement has been a film set too. It appears in the 1992 film of Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights, and in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 as one of the places where Harry and Hermione camp.

The Ribblehead Viaduct carries the Settle to Carlisle railway across Batty Moss. Its 24 arches, each with a span of 45 feet, were built by navvies living in shanty camps on the moor; the first passenger train crossed in 1874, and the whole line opened to passengers on 1 May 1876.

Around it stand the Yorkshire Three Peaks, Whernside, Ingleborough and Pen-y-ghent, which walkers try to climb in a single day.

What to See & the Best Walks at The Yorkshire Dales

Walk from Malham village to Malham Cove, climb the steps to the limestone pavement, then continue to the waterfall of Janet's Foss and the gorge of Gordale Scar, a circuit of about seven miles.

See the Ribblehead Viaduct, ideally with a train crossing, then visit Aysgarth Falls in Wensleydale and the creamery at Hawes. In Wharfedale, the riverside paths at Bolton Abbey lead to the ruined priory and the Strid.

Wildlife at The Yorkshire Dales

Peregrine falcons have nested on Malham Cove, and in early summer the upland hay meadows of Swaledale and Wensleydale are full of wild flowers. Lapwings, curlews and oystercatchers breed on the moors and pastures in spring. Please keep dogs on leads, especially in the lambing season.

Gardens, Countryside & Antiques near The Yorkshire Dales

See the Yorkshire Dales National Park listing for visitor centres. Long-distance walkers can follow The Pennine Way through Malham and over Pen-y-ghent, or cross the Dales on Wainwright's Coast to Coast.

For gardens, RHS Garden Harlow Carr and Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal Water Garden lie on the eastern edge. Haworth, the Brontës' village, is south of Skipton; see our guide to Haworth.

The Yorkshire Dales Through the Seasons

Spring brings lambs and nesting birds. June and July are the time for the flowering hay meadows. Autumn colours the woods of Wharfedale, and on a clear frosty winter day the limestone glows white against the blue sky.

Getting to The Yorkshire Dales

The Settle to Carlisle railway stops at Settle and Ribblehead, and the Dales are within an hour of Leeds and Harrogate. Buses serve the main dales, more often in summer.

The Yorkshire Dales: Questions & Answers

How high is Malham Cove?

The curved limestone cliff is about 80 metres high. At the end of the last Ice Age a great waterfall poured over it.

How many arches does the Ribblehead Viaduct have?

24, each with a span of 45 feet. It carries the Settle to Carlisle railway.

Our Advice

Our advice: Do the Malham circuit early in the morning, before the car park fills, and take a train over the Ribblehead Viaduct for a view of the Dales you cannot get from the road.