"Geography comes to life here, with faults, caves and gorges all on show."
Walk directions
Turn right out of the car park, then very soon turn left to cross a narrow bridge. Turn right, parallel to the stream, and walk up the road. Pass a viewpoint for the falls on the right, and then arrive at the entrance to the Ingleborough Estate Nature Trail. Pay the small fee at the machine and collect a leaflet for more information.
Walk up the obvious track to arrive beside a small lake. Continue along the level track beside the water and then, near the end of the lake, begin to climb gently again, crossing a small bridge at post 10 of the Nature Trail.
Continue past a large grotto on the left. Exit the woodland through a kissing gate into more open surroundings and continue straight ahead to arrive at Ingleborough Cave with its impressive entrance.
The main track continues over a small bridge. Look left here to see the stream emerging from another cave entrance, known as Beck Head. Continue through a gate along the track, now rougher. Where it bends left, note a ladder stile on the right, but for now continue up and through a gate into the narrowing gorge of Trow Gill.
Turn around and backtrack to the bend in the track. This time cross the stile and bend right up a path parallel with the fence, then bear anticlockwise up the slope to another stile in the next wall.
Cross the stile to a track (Thwaite Lane) and turn right. Follow the track steadily downhill through a gate. The easy walking allows you to look out over the very different scenery of the Forest of Bowland. Continue through a steeper dip and up a slight rise to reach a junction.
Turn right. The track descends through two tunnels. These are quite dark (especially the first one) and some people will feel happier with a torch. Emerge just above the parish church, and skirt round the churchyard to meet a lane. Turn left and it soon leads back to the car park.
The walk begins by following a popular nature trail through the Ingleborough Estate. This area owes much of its present lush appearance to the work of Reginald Farrer (1880–1920). A member of the family which still owns the estate, Reginald Farrer became an eminent botanist and plant-collector,... travelling extensively in Asia. He died, aged just 40, in rugged Upper Burma. He had a massive influence on the development of rock-gardening, and 10 species of plant have the specific name farreri. It’s recorded that he encouraged plants to colonise rock-faces by firing seeds from a shotgun! Beyond the nature trail you soon reach Ingleborough Cave. Its calcite flows, stalactites and stalagmites weren’t discovered until 1837, when a natural dam which had blocked access was washed away in a flood. It was soon turned into a show-cave, and has been one ever since. The stream which formed Ingleborough Cave has altered its underground course and now appears close by at Beck Head. This is the same stream which disappears into the ground at Gaping Gill, possibly the most famous pothole in Britain. This fact was established long ago through dye-tests, but the actual connection between the two ends of the system was not completed until 1983 and involved serious cave-diving. Gaping Gill is an aptly-named hole in the moor about 0.75 miles (1.2km) beyond the head of Trow Gill. Its main shaft is 328ft (100m) deep, and the waterfall is the highest unbroken fall in Britain. It is normally inaccessible to non-cavers, but on two occasions each year a winch is set up to allow members of the public to descend into the chamber. Bradford Pothole Club runs a winch meet in late May, and Craven Pothole Club in August. The shaft was the deepest known until the discovery of Titan, in Derbyshire, in 2006. The cavern at the bottom of Gaping Gill, known as the Main Chamber, is the largest known cavern in Britain: 475ft (145m) long, 82ft (25m) wide and 115ft (35m) high. As the walls of Trow Gill close in, at the far end of the walk, it’s easy to see why many geomorphologists believe that it was formed by the collapse of the roof of a cavern – perhaps not dissimilar to Ingleborough Cave. However, other theorists suggest that it was formed by surface processes, probably scoured out by meltwater at the end of the last ice age.
North Yorkshire, with its two National Parks and two designated Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, is England’s largest county and one of the most rural. This is prime walking country, from the heather-clad heights of the North York Moors to the limestone country that is so typical of the Yorkshire Dales – a place of contrasts and discoveries, of history and legend.
"Geography comes to life here, with faults, caves and gorges all on show."
Walk details
1hr 30min
Difficulty:
Medium
Gradient:
Moderate
Distance:
4 miles (6.4kms)
Ascent:
680ft (207m)
Walk directions
Turn right out of the car park, then very soon turn left to cross a narrow bridge. Turn right, parallel to the stream, and walk up the road. Pass a viewpoint for the falls on the right, and then arrive at the entrance to the Ingleborough Estate Nature Trail. Pay the small fee at the machine and collect a leaflet for more information.
1 of 7
Walk up the obvious track to arrive beside a small lake. Continue along the level track beside the water and then, near the end of the lake, begin to climb gently again, crossing a small bridge at post 10 of the Nature Trail.
2 of 7
Continue past a large grotto on the left. Exit the woodland through a kissing gate into more open surroundings and continue straight ahead to arrive at Ingleborough Cave with its impressive entrance.
3 of 7
The main track continues over a small bridge. Look left here to see the stream emerging from another cave entrance, known as Beck Head. Continue through a gate along the track, now rougher. Where it bends left, note a ladder stile on the right, but for now continue up and through a gate into the narrowing gorge of Trow Gill.
4 of 7
Turn around and backtrack to the bend in the track. This time cross the stile and bend right up a path parallel with the fence, then bear anticlockwise up the slope to another stile in the next wall.
5 of 7
Cross the stile to a track (Thwaite Lane) and turn right. Follow the track steadily downhill through a gate. The easy walking allows you to look out over the very different scenery of the Forest of Bowland. Continue through a steeper dip and up a slight rise to reach a junction.
6 of 7
Turn right. The track descends through two tunnels. These are quite dark (especially the first one) and some people will feel happier with a torch. Emerge just above the parish church, and skirt round the churchyard to meet a lane. Turn left and it soon leads back to the car park.
The walk begins by following a popular nature trail through the Ingleborough Estate. This area owes much of its present lush appearance to the work of Reginald Farrer (1880–1920). A member of the family which still owns the estate, Reginald Farrer became an eminent botanist and plant-collector,... travelling extensively in Asia. He died, aged just 40, in rugged Upper Burma. He had a massive influence on the development of rock-gardening, and 10 species of plant have the specific name farreri. It’s recorded that he encouraged plants to colonise rock-faces by firing seeds from a shotgun! Beyond the nature trail you soon reach Ingleborough Cave. Its calcite flows, stalactites and stalagmites weren’t discovered until 1837, when a natural dam which had blocked access was washed away in a flood. It was soon turned into a show-cave, and has been one ever since. The stream which formed Ingleborough Cave has altered its underground course and now appears close by at Beck Head. This is the same stream which disappears into the ground at Gaping Gill, possibly the most famous pothole in Britain. This fact was established long ago through dye-tests, but the actual connection between the two ends of the system was not completed until 1983 and involved serious cave-diving. Gaping Gill is an aptly-named hole in the moor about 0.75 miles (1.2km) beyond the head of Trow Gill. Its main shaft is 328ft (100m) deep, and the waterfall is the highest unbroken fall in Britain. It is normally inaccessible to non-cavers, but on two occasions each year a winch is set up to allow members of the public to descend into the chamber. Bradford Pothole Club runs a winch meet in late May, and Craven Pothole Club in August. The shaft was the deepest known until the discovery of Titan, in Derbyshire, in 2006. The cavern at the bottom of Gaping Gill, known as the Main Chamber, is the largest known cavern in Britain: 475ft (145m) long, 82ft (25m) wide and 115ft (35m) high. As the walls of Trow Gill close in, at the far end of the walk, it’s easy to see why many geomorphologists believe that it was formed by the collapse of the roof of a cavern – perhaps not dissimilar to Ingleborough Cave. However, other theorists suggest that it was formed by surface processes, probably scoured out by meltwater at the end of the last ice age.
North Yorkshire, with its two National Parks and two designated Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, is England’s largest county and one of the most rural. This is prime walking country, from the heather-clad heights of the North York Moors to the limestone country that is so typical of the Yorkshire Dales – a place of contrasts and discoveries, of history and legend.
