Stainforth and Catrigg Force

This is a circular walk with a short out-and-back spur to the waterfall inside the loop. Plan on approximately 2.8 miles / 4.6 km as the complete round-trip distance for the whole circular walk, measured from the car park and back to it, and including the road and bridge approach, the required Upper Winskill section, and the down-and-back path to Catrigg Force. Shorter figures on some printed material leave out parts of that full connected loop. Allow about 1.5 hours, which covers the steep climb, the stiles, careful footing in the wood and a stop at the falls.

From the National Park car park in Stainforth you walk out on the road, through the village and over the 14th-century Stainforth Bridge, then pick up the signed path between cottages. The route climbs through fields and woodland above Stainforth Scar to Upper Winskill, crosses to the Winskill-to-Catrigg Force bridleway and Goat Scar Lane, then drops on a short path to Catrigg Force. You retrace that spur back to the lane and return along Goat Scar Lane and through the village to the car park.

The main reward is the waterfall in its quiet wooded gorge, reached through a landscape of limestone stairway steps, scar edges and dry stone walls, with open pasture and long views up Ribblesdale toward the Three Peaks skyline. It is a compact way to combine waterfall scenery with village lanes and field walking, which makes it a good half-morning outing rather than a full day.

Rated 5 out of 10, moderate. Sampled elevations along the route run from about 197 m near the village to roughly 325 m at the high ground, so the climb is short but steep. Expect:

This is not a smooth or step-free walk, and no accessible route is claimed for it.

• A steep limestone stair section early in the loop
• Several stiles to cross
• Uneven and often slippery footing in the woodland
• A sloping path on the approach to the falls

Take particular care on the sloping path and near the edge above and beside Catrigg Force, where the gorge sides are steep. The walk crosses farm fields where livestock may be present, and the wider limestone country rewards sticking to the paths. The honest tradeoff is that the short mileage label understates the effort: the ground has more friction than a two mile figure suggests, and the waterfall itself is only reached by an uneven spur that you walk twice.

Dogs are allowed on this public rights of way route. Yorkshire Dales National Park guidance is to keep dogs on a lead on public rights of way and in fields with livestock, and close control matters even more here because of the gorge, the steep slope and limestone ground hazards. Start from the National Park car park at Stainforth, postcode BD24 9PF, grid reference SD 82055 67266. There are toilets at the car park and pubs in the village.