Ingleton Waterfalls Trail is a well-known circular

trail A trail, also known as a path or track, is an unpaved lane or small road usually passing through a natural area. In the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, a path or footpath is the preferred term for a pedestrian or hiking trail. ...

beginning and ending in the village of

Ingleton Ingleton may refer to: * Ingleton, County Durham * Ingleton, North Yorkshire {{geodis ...

in the English

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by national parks, including most of the Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors. It is one of four cou ...

, now maintained by the Ingleton Scenery Company. It is claimed that the trail, some long, and with a vertical rise of 169 m (554 feet) has some of the most spectacular

waterfall A waterfall is a point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in severa ...

and

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the '' plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see ...

scenery in the north of England. It is on private land and an entrance fee is charged.

Beginnings

Following a number of articles in the ''Lancaster Guardian'' and other newspapers about the scenery in and around Ingleton, public interest led to the creation of the trail in an area which was previously hidden from view. Paths and bridges were built and the trail opened on

Good Friday Good Friday is a Christian holiday commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary. It is observed during Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum. It is also known as Holy Friday, Great Friday, Great and Holy Friday (also Ho ...

, 11 April 1885. The presence of Ingleton railway station played a major role in the early success of the trail, attracting visitors from Bradford,

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

and

Leeds Leeds () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the thi ...

Geology

Ingleton lies on the North and South Craven fault, exposing Carboniferous and

Ordovician The Ordovician ( ) is a geologic period and system, the second of six periods of the Paleozoic Era. The Ordovician spans 41.6 million years from the end of the Cambrian Period million years ago (Mya) to the start of the Silurian Period Mya. ...

rocks. The Ingletonian rock has been classified as Ordivician.

The walk

Starting in the Broadwood car park the trail takes walkers along the banks of the River Twiss, through Swilla Glenn with its coin embedded tree and on to Pecca Falls, Pecca Twin Falls, Holly Bush Spout and Thornton Force. A footbridge bridge crosses the Twiss and leads on to Twistleton Lane, which crosses out of the valley of the River Twiss at . Following Twistleton Lane down past

Scar End Scar End is a settlement on the side of Twisleton Scar in the English county of North Yorkshire. This Scar itself is the end of a spur running westwards from Whernside, one of the Three Peaks, towards Ingleton, North Yorkshire, and the beds o ...

Farm and Twistleton Hall the walk crosses Oddies Lane to Beezley's Farm. Beezly Falls - geograph

Past Beezley's the trail starts its descent along the banks of the

River Doe The River Doe is a river in North Yorkshire, England. The river's source is near God's Bridge close to the settlement of Chapel-le-Dale and flows through Twisleton in a south-westerly direction to Ingleton, where it meets the River Twiss to fo ...

. This river emerges near God's Bridge close to the settlement of

Chapel-le-Dale Chapel-le-Dale is a hamlet in the civil parish of Ingleton, North Yorkshire, England. It is in the Yorkshire Dales and was previously in the West Riding of Yorkshire. History The hamlet is situated on the B6255 road between Ingleton and Ribbl ...

and flows gently until it reaches the waterfalls walk at Beezley's Falls Triple Spout (with its three waterfalls side-by side). As the trail continues, you look down 18 metres (59 feet) onto Rival Falls and then onto Baxenghyll

Gorge A canyon (from ; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), or gorge, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tendency to c ...

, Snow Falls and finally walk through Twistleton Glen and back to Ingleton. In Ingleton, the Twiss and the Doe meet to form the River Greta, which in turn flows into the

River Lune The River Lune (archaically sometimes Loyne) is a river in length in Cumbria and Lancashire, England. Etymology Several elucidations for the origin of the name ''Lune'' exist. Firstly, it may be that the name is Brittonic in genesis and deri ...

English Nature English Nature was the United Kingdom government agency that promoted the conservation of wildlife, geology and wild places throughout England between 1990 and 2006. It was a non-departmental public body funded by the Department for Environme ...

designated the River Twiss and River Doe areas of the Waterfalls Trail as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) due to the interesting plants and animals and the geological structures located there.

References

;Bibliography

External links

Ingleton Waterfalls TrailLancaster GuardianNatural EnglandDetailed Walk description on Car Free Walks
{{coord, 54, 9.26, N, 2, 28.28, W, region:GB_type:landmark, display=title Waterfalls of North Yorkshire Footpaths in North Yorkshire Craven District