Malham

Malhamdale, along with Ribblesdale, boasts some of the National Park’s most amazing limestone scenery.

The spectacular natural limestone amphitheatre Malham Cove has attracted peregrine falcons which now call it home each summer.

Nearby is Gordale Scar, a towering limestone gorge and the inspiration for many artists and writers, enchanting Janet’s Foss waterfall, and the nature reserve of Malham Tarn.

One of the most spectacular and well visited villages in the Dales is Malham. With dramatic limestone scenery just a stone’s throw from the village centre, Malham has few equals anywhere in the UK.

Just a short walk from the village, with its busy National Park Centre, cafés, Youth Hostel and outdoor and souvenir shops, is Malham Cove, a massive natural limestone crescent-shaped cliff and former waterfall which extends across the line of the mid Craven Fault and is capped by a remarkable area of limestone pavement.

Easily accessible by footpath to the east is Gordale Scar, an impressive limestone gorge formed by torrents of glacial meltwater eroding frozen limestone and scouring out the gorge, which for centuries was rightly regarded as one of the natural wonders of England. Close by is Janet’s Foss, another remarkable natural feature with a small cave and waterfall over a curtain of tufa or natural limestone deposits.

It’s a pleasant, if steep, walk along the Pennine Way from Malham village past Malham Cove and through a remarkable natural limestone ‘Dry Valley’ to Malham Tarn, a glacial lake which is now a National Nature Reserve.

Superb walks abound around Malham. These include Pikedaw Hill, notable for former lead and zinc mines but also offering fine views down Malhamdale and across to the Tarn, and Weets Hill with its monastic cross. There are good tracks to be followed over Kirby Hill to Settle, or the new Pennine Bridleway Settle Loop can be followed via Gorbeck Lane – a green lane - to Langcliffe and Settle. Another fine walk is to follow the footpath over Malham Moor and the Monks’s Road to Arncliffe in Littondale, or to take the Pennine Way over Fountains Fell and Pen-y-ghent to Horton-in-Ribblesdale.

The village itself also has great charm.

Bus times can be checked on the Dalesbus website.

Local services: pubs, shops, cafes, accommodation, toilets, Youth Hostel, tourist information centre, Park Information Point (PIP)