Ribblehead Quarry Walk

This is an out-and-back walk of about 1.68 miles round trip, starting from the quarry parking and access off the B6255 near Ribblehead station. The mapped corridor is roughly 1.35 km one way, so the map draws the line once and you walk it out and back. Height along the corridor stays in a narrow band, from about 315 m at the start to the mid 330s near the farmstead ground, so there is no sustained climb.

From the parking circle you pick up the waymarked path into the former quarry, passing close to ponds and old worked faces, then continue on a rough track and path south through open limestone pasture to the Gauber farmstead area. The return retraces the same corridor back to the start. Green waymarkers help, but this is a rough field-and-quarry route rather than a manicured trail, and wall stiles feature along the way.

Easy on distance, less forgiving underfoot. Expect:

Wear boots with grip and give yourself more time than the mileage suggests.

• rough stony ground and uneven pasture
• limestone that gets slippery when wet
• unmade track at the start and wall stiles later
• route-finding that needs attention where the path fades in open ground

There are steep unfenced cliff faces in the old quarry and several ponds with deep water, so keep well back from edges and keep children and dogs close. The wider limestone landscape here also brings caves, limestone pavement and sink holes, and the standing advice is to stick to the paths rather than wander across open rock.

Dogs are allowed on this public rights of way route with close control. Use a lead in fields with livestock. Around quarry edges, open water and bare limestone, a lead is the sensible default whatever the season.

From the B6255 head towards Ingleton, go under the railway bridge, then turn immediately left up the unmade track. The parking circle sits about 400 m along on the left. There is no step-free or accessible surfacing on this walk, so treat it as a rough, unpaved countryside path throughout.