WALK: visit five magnificent wonders in the Yorkshire Dales

Park near the National Park Centre. Car parking here costs £4.50 for the day and there could be parking spaces along the approaching roadside for a voluntary payment of £1.

Grid reference SD 900 627, postcode BD23 4DA.

Information:

Distance: 10 miles, ascent: 1,200 feet

Time: 5 hours

Terrain: Mainly good footpaths and tracks and a quiet road.

Map: OS Explorer OL2

Route

1 Walk across the stone footbridge opposite the Buck Inn and turn right onto the paved path initially by the beck, then continuing to the left along a gravel path to Janet’s Foss. Foss is the old Norse word for a waterfall and Janet (or Jennet), the queen of the fairies, lived in a cave behind the waterfall. Continue up a short rocky path to the road, turn right, go over the bridge (where there is usually a refreshment van) then turn left onto a well-made track signed Gordale Scar half a mile. Gordale Scar is a dramatic limestone ravine containing two waterfalls with overhanging limestone cliffs more than 300-feet high. This huge amphitheatre was created during the Ice Age, when melt water created a deep cavern that eventually collapsed to create the waterfall and gorge.

2 After viewing the scar return to the road and turn left to proceed up the hill and onwards to the end of the lane. Go through a gate near a farm and turn left onto a path signed Mastiles Lane. The path follows a wall on the left across fields and through a metal gate. Turn left through a metal gate onto Mastiles Lane and march over the site of a Roman fortified camp, indicated by an information board. Continue along the track, through a gate and across Gordale Beck via a stone footbridge. After reaching a roadside gate turn right onto a track signed Arncliffe. Turn left before a cattle grid and walk below a wood on the right, along a wall and across a track (the Pennine Way) to pass another wood and continue to the outlet of Malham Tarn. At 1,237-feet above sea level, some say it is the highest lake in England, even though there are several higher waters in the Lake District, such as Red Tarn, which is more than 1,000 feet higher.

3 Continue along a grassy path towards a car park and turn right on the road, through a gateway then left onto the Pennine Way, signed Malham Cove half a mile. Keep left and follow fingerposts to the cove, along a rocky path and passing through the gorge below Ing Scar. Just before reaching the top of Malham Cove the route turns right at the Pennine Way fingerpost but before going that way, make a 100-yard excursion past the gate in the wall on the left for a splendid view of the cove from above. You may see a nest of peregrine falcons, the fastest bird on Earth, having been measured flying at over 200 mph. Walk carefully over the limestone pavement and marvel at the view over the 260-foot high cliff. It once had a waterfall bigger than Niagara Falls. The limestone lumps are called clints and the cracks grykes, home to many shade-loving plants including enchanter’s nightshade and hart’s tongue fern. In the film Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows (Part 1), this is where Harry and Hermione set up camp.

4 Follow the footpath down more than 400 steps (count them if you like). At the bottom make an excursion to the left towards the base of the cove. There are more than 300 climbing routes on the rock faces, with names such as Space Invaders, Scaremonger, Niagra and Cadenza. After admiring the climbers’ impressive feats walk along the well-surfaced footpath to Malham village.

NB: Restrictions on space mean that this article provides a general summary of the route. It is advisable for anyone who plans to follow the walk to take a copy of the relevant Ordnance Survey map.