The Beck Stone, Ilkley Moor

Directions to the Beck Stone

I’ll begin with a little bit of advice about Ilkley Moor. It is absolutely COVERED in paths. Paths that are on the map, paths that aren’t on the map. Paths that appear in winter, get overgrown by bracken and heather in the summer and paths that look insignificant on a map, are great wide tracks in reality. As such, the best advice I can give you when navigating Ilkley Moor, is to use the features around you to help! However, as confusing as it can get on Ilkley Moor, because there are so many paths, as long as you know where you’re headed, there’s probably a path going in that direction!! On our moorland walks, I always recommend using a map in combination with a GPS.

1. Start your walk from the Cow and Calf Car Park. If you can’t get in it, you’ll be able to park nearby. Head towards the old quarry on the wide flagged track that ascends towards it. Just before you get to the entrance, turn left up the flagged path that will take you up to the top of it.

2. As the path bends round to the right and continues to ascend, you will meet a cross roads, with paths going left, right and straight on. As a rough guide, you will see the Cow rock and quarry to your right, a tree plantation and the large sunken area ahead, and then to your left a path that heads towards the ridge of Ilkley Crag above the rocky valley. You need to head along that path as it climbs towards Backstone Beck.

3. Here you need to cross the beck, then take the first path on the right. It will not be as big and wide as the ones you have been on so far, but it is still clear, and heads through the bracken, descending roughly parallel with the beck on your right hand side.

4. Start to head downwards. You will soon see a route to your right (after around 150m of descent). This is your first point of exploration (what 3 words infects.ejects.irritable). Take the path down as far as the beck and you will see carved in the rock on your right hand side a face and upper body. Here, you can clamber up the beck heading upstream (there are geocaches upstream), or you can cross the beck to the other side to the obvious scrambly point on your left which gets you down to the bottom of Ilkley Moor’s waterfall. Bums will be required, but it is worth the detour! Turn back on yourself and return to the path descending alongside Backstone Beck. Turn right and keeping the beck to your right, continue to head downwards.

5. A little further on, you will notice that the beck drops further and further away from you down into a gulley, until you are positioned quite high above it. Here is the part with some unguarded drops and the path takes a little left turn around a large rock. Here, is where you will see another of the weirdly carved stone faces in the side of the rock you’ve walked round.

6. Continue downwards, keeping the water to your right until you see a wooden bridge crossing the beck. You need to head to that and cross it.

7. Immediately on your right, positioned a little way off the path is a wooden post, with the words Stanza Stones on it. Walk towards it and follow the newly stepped route indicated by it for a short way until you see a little offshoot of a path to your right (also marked by a stanza stones sign), right next to some gorse bushes. It heads down to the beck side, and to The Beck Stone (read below for more information about the Stanza Stones!)

8. Once you have taken in the peaceful beauty of the area around the Beck Stone (HA! who am I kidding!! You’re walking with kids! I’ll try again….) Once you have had your fill of stone throwing and trying to get each other wet, and yelling at everybody not to fall into the water as it’s still about 1km back to the car……. turn back along the same path down to the bridge.

9. Head right up the newly restored steps and then along the wide and obvious path that has been recently resurfaced, it will take you underneath the Cow and Calf Rocks rocks on your right (you can head up to then if you like) and roughly parallel (albeit at a distance) to the road.

10. You will eventually end up back at the car park!

Last walked November 2023