Janet’s Foss and Gordale Scar

How to get to Janet’s Foss and Gordale Scar

Directions:

1. Beginning at the Yorkshire Dales National Park Car Park, turn left out of here and walk towards the village of Malham. You need to cross over Malham Beck over the little footbridge and then turn right. The path to Janet’s Foss is wide and easily identifiable.

2. Continue along the path, until you see an option to turn left (this is after around 350m). Take this path, and continue along it for about 1km. It roughly follows the side of the Beck (keeping that on your right) until the path enters the woodland surrounding Janet’s Foss. Go through the gate (you will see the National Trust signpost for Janet’s Foss here), and continue along the path until you reach the clearing in the woodland, where the waterfall is. We actually walked up the beck during the summer, when the water levels were relatively low. The pools of Janet’s Foss are a popular wild swimming spot, and there is also a cave located just up the bank from the water. To get there, you have to wade through the pool.

3. The path leading to Gordale Scar continues past the falls (they will be on your right), and upwards. The path leads you out onto the road for a little while before you enter the land surrounding Gordale Scar. There is an information board about this place just before the entrance. At this point, there is a little layby - often filled with a snack van which also sells ice cream! This is the point where you can cut the route short, but you will miss out Gordale Scar if you do. To head back to Malham from here, you need to cross the road, head towards Gordale Bridge, and take the path that heads upwards after the gate (signposted Malham). If you cut this route short, skip now to point number 6.

4. After emerging from the woodland of Janet’s Foss, turn right, and head along the road for a short distance, passing Gordale Bridge on your left, and head through the gate signposted Gordale Scar. You will walk through the campsite here (best place for a campsite EVER!) You cannot miss the path that wends through the scar, curving round to the right, which leads you to the spectacular waterfall there. There is a path that continues up Gordale Scar to the second waterfall here, although it is not particularly child friendly and involves some significant rock scrambling, which can be slippery when wet.

5. After taking in the pure awesomeness of Gordale Scar, turn back on yourself and head back to Gordale Bridge (where the snack van is occasionally!) You need to take the gate on your right, near the bridge, signposted to Malham.

6. Head up the hill, keeping the wall on your right, and follow the well walked route until you reach Malham Raikes, a narrow country road. If you want to do the whole Malham whammy, you can in fact cross the road and walk onwards to the limestone pavements at the top of Malham Cove. There is a steep stepped path that heads down the western side of the Cove to the bottom and then back along Malham Beck into the village again. This adds a further 2 miles onto the route, making the longer route 8.5 miles -ish. We headed at this point straight down the road back into Malham village, where we begun. The road is quiet, but be wary of cars when walking down here. We then did Malham Cove as part of a shorter walk on another day.

ALTERNATIVE PUSHCHAIR FRIENDLY SHORT ROUTE

1. Park at the layby at Gordale Bridge (limited parking, never block any access points to fields, park responsibly and thoughtfully at all times - access for emergency services needs to be possible at ALL times)

2. Head towards the information board located by the gate into the campsite on Hawthorns Lane. Head on the main access track through the middle of the campsite, this continues all the way to Gordale Scar (linear walk)

3. Once you have reached Gordale Scar, turn around and head back to the parking area. If you want to pay a visit to Janet’s Foss too, then continue back along Gordale Road in the direction of Malham Village. After 100m or so, there is a gate in the wall on your left. This gives you access to Janet’s Foss (not pushchair friendly though)

Last walked January 2024