Ingleborough via Moughton Scars and Gaping Gill (Horton to Ribblehead) walk
Easy route over Yorkshire's finest via the limestone paradise that is its easterly end: limestone pavement, caves, a dramatic gorge and chasm, a pot with the longest waterfall, views
Length |
20.7 km (12.8 mi), with 670/600m cumulative ascent/descent. For a shorter walk, see below Walk Options. |
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Toughness |
7 out of 10 with 6 hours walking time. |
Walk Notes |
This relatively easy and very varied route across Yorkshire’s second highest top (and arguably its only mountain), Ingleborough, rises out of the verdant Ribblesdale onto the limestone extravaganza that is the easterly end of the hill, culminating in a stretch along the Moughton Scars with their extensive limestone pavements, while overlooking the scenic Crummack Dale, where the Austwick Beck surges out of a cave. Negotiate the limestone pavement on Thieves Moss and rise up to an interim plateau where you follow grass tracks across to the Trow Gill gorge to walk up the dramatic gorge and through the narrow chasm at its top. On to Gaping Gill, Britain’s longest uninterrupted waterfall, where the Fell Beck falls into a cathedral-sized cave system. A three-tiered ascent along an engineered path leads to Ingleborough’s featureless plateau, former site of an Iron Age hillfort and very exposed to weathers drifting in from the nearby coast.
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Walk Options |
A Shortcut on the ascent follows the popular Three Peaks route up Sulber Nick and Simon Fell Breast direct onto Ingleborough’s plateau, forgoing the very interesting features of Moughton Scars, Crummack Dale, Trow Gill and Gaping Gill. This cuts 4.8 km and 180m ascent.
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Maps |
OS Landranger Map: 98 (Wensleydale & Upper Wharfedale)
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Transport |
Horton in Ribblesdale Station, map reference SD 803 726, is 328 km northwest of Charing Cross, 92 km southeast of Carlisle, 63 km northwest of Leeds and 245m above sea level. Ribblehead Station, map reference SD 765 789, is 7 km northwest of Horton Station and 315m above sea level. Both are in North Yorkshire and are stations on the Leeds - Settle – Carlisle Line, with nine trains per day Mon-Sat and six on Sundays. Journey time to Horton is 90 minutes from Carlisle and 70 minutes from Leeds. Ribblehead is 6 minutes further from Leeds. Saturday Walkers’ Club: The walk is doable as a daywalk from London with an early start and a late return. |
Lunch |
Picnic Lunch Clapham Ending
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Tea |
The Old Hill Inn Low Sleights Road, Chapel-le-Dale, Ingleton, North Yorkshire, LA6 3AR (01524 241 256). The Old Hill Inn is located 4.3 km from the end of the walk.
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Glossary |
Northern Glossary beck: stream, brook; brig(g): bridge; -by: habitation; cam: bank, slope, ridge; carr: marshy woodland or shrubland; clough: narrow valley, cleft in a hillside, ravine, glen, gorge, cliff, rocky precipice; crag: steep rugged mass of rock projecting upward or outward; currick: cairn, pile of stones, often locations used to keep watch for Scottish raiders; dale: valley; -ey: island, dry area in a marshy place; fell: hill, mountain slope (especially rough moorland); firth/frith: long, narrow inlet of the sea or estuary; force/foss: waterfall, rapids; frith: area of peace, protection, safety, security; garth: small grass enclosure adjacent to a house; gate: way, street; gill/ghyll: small narrow valley or ravine; hagg: part of an area of woodland, especially on a sloping bank; holm(e): island, inland promontory, raised ground in marsh, river-meadow; how(e): barrow, small hill; hush: (Roman era) mine on steep hillside, using dammed up water to wash away topsoil and boulders, revealing the underlying lead or ore veins; ing(s): meadow(s), especially water meadow near a river; keld/kell: spring or well; kirk: church; laithe/leeath: barn, agricultural building; lang: long; ling: heather; lonning/lonnin’: lane or track, something less than a road, more rural than a street, usually short; mell: sand dunes; mire: bog; moss: bog, marsh; ness: headland, promontory; nick: shallow notch, cut or indentation on an edge or a surface; pike: spike, sharp point, peak; rake: slant, incline; rigg: ridge; scar/scaur: cliff, rocky outcrop with a steep face; seat/set(t)/side: summer pasture or dwelling place; seaves: rushes; shaw: hurdle, gate; sike/syke/sitch: small stream or gulley, gutter; stang: pole, shaft, stake, wooden bar; stoop/stowp/stoup: post, gatepost, distance marker (milestone), standing stone; -sty: ascent, ascending lane or path, narrow pathway or course; tarn: lake or pond (especially in an upland location); thorp(e)/t(h)rop: village or small settlement; thwait(e): village or small settlement; toft(s): small farmstead with enclosed land, later applied to a village or small settlement; wath: ford; whinny: gorse, furze, thorny vegetation; -wich/wick: village or settlement. |
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Profile | |
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By Train |
Out (not a train station) Back (not a train station) |
By Car |
Start BD24 0HH Map Directions Return to the start: Finish LA6 3AS Map Directions Travel to the start: |
Amazon | |
Help |
National Rail: 03457 48 49 50 • Traveline (bus times): 0871 200 22 33 (12p/min) • TFL (London) : 0343 222 1234 |
Version |
Aug-24 Thomas G |
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Walk Directions
Full directions for this walk are in a PDF file (link above) which you can print, or download on to a Kindle, tablet, or smartphone.
This is just the introduction. This walk's detailed directions are in a PDF available from wwww.walkingclub.org.uk