Gordale Scar

The Scar sits on the Middle Craven Fault, where weaknesses in the limestone gave meltwater somewhere to bite. Torrents from successive Ice Ages cut down through those faults over thousands of years, deepening the chasm toward the end of the last glaciation. The old story that a single giant cavern collapsed here does not hold up, though several smaller caves may have fallen in and added to the depth. Above the lower fall, a natural rock arch formed when the stream broke through a thin rib of rock, a change recent enough to be dated to around 1730.

The pale, spongy screen the water slides over is tufa, limestone dissolved upstream and then deposited onto wet moss. It builds slowly and breaks easily.

There is an engineered route to the bottom of the gorge, included in the park's Miles without Stiles suggestions, so the big reveal is reachable without stiles or scrambling. Plenty of visitors go to the base, stand under the walls, and turn around happy. That is a complete visit.

• Do not climb the waterfall. Scrambling up the tufa damages it, and the National Park asks people not to do it. Staff at the Malham centre can point you to an alternative way up.
• The steep upper route toward Malham Tarn is rough, wet and slippery, and becomes a poor idea after heavy rain. Treat it as a scramble, not a path.
• Wet limestone is greasy even in dry spells. Sturdy footwear matters, and so does care near fast water and around livestock in the approach fields.

In the clints and grykes and the damp cracks near the falls, look for herb Robert, wood sorrel, green spleenwort and wall rue tucked out of reach of grazing. Scan the cliff faces and skyline too: peregrine falcons hunt around Gordale Scar and nearby Malham Cove.