Lathkill Dale

Walking is the point, and the dale rewards a linear stroll rather than a rush. Expect steep limestone sides, rocky crags, valley woodland, limestone grassland, scrub, hay meadows, dew ponds and scree, with small patches of limestone heath and acid grassland. Below Over Haddon the Blue Waters pool marks where an impervious basalt layer forces underground water back to the surface, and downstream a series of weirs, built to encourage trout breeding and to form fishing pools, creates calm stretches. Views open up between the wooded sections, and the upper dale gives the widest sense of the dry valley cut into pasture.

The lower half can be reached from the Over Haddon end along a level track that suits wheelchairs and pushchairs, with disabled parking spaces a short distance away, and the easiest walking runs along that track as far as Bateman's House. Parts of that route are concessionary and can be subject to closure during the pheasant shooting season, so have a fallback plan. Beyond the track the character changes: the path from Over Haddon drops by a steep lane, and the area is generally wild, with uneven surfaces, steep steps, occasional light scrambling and stretches where route finding takes attention. There are no bridleways on the reserve, so horses, mountain biking and other cycling are not permitted.

Nothing is guaranteed, but the habitat mix supports a lot. Redstarts are reported in the shady wooded gorge, while wheatear, raven, buzzard and peregrine use the open upper dale. Grey wagtail and water vole are noted around Sheepwash Bridge, dippers around a mossy rock step and again at the weirs, and the calmer weir water suits ducks, kingfisher, moorhen and coot. Woodland birds include blackcap, chiffchaff, willow and garden warblers, great spotted woodpecker, spotted flycatcher and tawny owl. Jacob's ladder, a rare plant here, flowers in June and July.

The river runs over Carboniferous Limestone and flows east to join the Wye just below Haddon Hall, while the dale system continues towards Alport and the River Bradford. The upper western end takes in Ricklow Quarry, known for important Gigantoproductus fossil exposures, and the Conksbury area holds a deserted medieval settlement recorded in Domesday Book. Fossil collecting is not allowed, and the northern faces at Ricklow Quarry are extremely unstable and must not be approached.