Best time to go
The route is among Malham's busiest, with peak season, weekends and holidays especially busy. Early morning is quieter and the light is softer. Dry weather makes the walk more comfortable.
Overview
About Malham Cove
Why stop
- Towering limestone amphitheatre with a striking cliff-top pavement
Heads up
- Busy at peak times; wet stone and steep top steps need care
Map
Where it is
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Full mapPlan your stop
Before you go
Best time to go
Facilities and nearby
1 active Yorkshire Dales alert
- ClosureTemporary closures on public rights of wayAvoid the listed sections of public rights of way while their temporary closures or pedestrian prohibition are in force. - Public Bridleway No. 52 (05.Official details
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Yorkshire Dales Tour Guide
Your drive to Malham Cove, narrated.
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Yorkshire Dales National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
Recorded for this place
Malham Cove0:00 / 0:31
“You're approaching Malham Cove, but the huge curved limestone cliff is a walk from Malham village, not a roadside viewpoint.”
Plays as you drive up to Malham Cove in the Parkwolf Yorkshire Dales Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Malham Village and National Park Centre
- Janet's Foss and Gordale Scar
- Malham Tarn from Watersinks
- The Scream Above the Roofs
- 298 audio storiesacross Yorkshire Dales’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Eurasian Otter, Atlantic Salmon, Short-eared Owl, and 13 more
- Works offlinemaps, 99 trails, 63 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Guide
More about Malham Cove
What you seeA 70m curving white limestone cliff rises above Malham, formed along the Middle Craven Fault…
A 70m curving white limestone cliff rises above Malham, formed along the Middle Craven Fault and shaped by erosion from water and ice. Above the cliff lies a Great Scar Limestone karst pavement with deep grykes and panoramic views along the dale. The grykes are deep, so take care with every step.
Deep historyThe limestone formed in a warm tropical sea in the early Carboniferous, between about 359 and…
The limestone formed in a warm tropical sea in the early Carboniferous, between about 359 and 331 million years ago, and holds fossil corals, crinoids and brachiopods. Ice sheets covered the area probably at least three times in the last 1.5 million years. Meltwater once poured over the lip as a massive waterfall; today the water usually runs underground through caves.
Walking the routeIt is about 1km each way from the visitor centre.
It is about 1km each way from the visitor centre. The base path is flat, wide and well surfaced, suitable for wheelchairs and pushchairs, though gates may need help; Tramper hire is available. The steps to the top are not accessible, and the upper steps are rugged and uneven. Wet or frosty stone is slippery, and the fields can be muddy after rain, with grazing cattle.
WildlifePeregrines have nested here since 1993, and in summer they may be watched.
Peregrines have nested here since 1993, and in summer they may be watched. House martins and jackdaws may also be seen. Keep well away from nest ledges and do not fly drones.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Yorkshire Dales
10 sightingsEurasian OtterMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
11 sightingsAtlantic SalmonMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
12 sightingsShort-eared OwlMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
22 sightingsWestern Barn OwlMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
27 sightingsTawny OwlMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
34 sightingsCommon KingfisherMost seen around 7 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Yorkshire Dales. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
