Stainforth Audio Trail

A 4.2 mile loop from the village car park beside the B6479, taking about 1.5 to 2 hours at a steady pace. From the car park you cross the village and road, head over Knight Stainforth Bridge, and drop to Stainforth Force on the River Ribble. The path then follows the river south to Langcliffe, passes the village and footbridge area, and returns on the other side of the loop to Stainforth.

Stainforth Force is the highlight, a broad limestone cascade spread across the Ribble rather than a single narrow drop, and it comes early in the walk. After that the reward is the river itself, with quiet valley scenery leading to Langcliffe, a stone village with a green that makes an obvious pause point before the return leg. It is a genuinely pleasant easy day out for the waterfall, river and village combination, not a wild or demanding hike, and some of the walking is on roads and settlement edges.

Easy overall, with modest height change through the valley, but this is not a smooth or accessible surface. Expect:

Sensible footwear with grip is worth having, especially near the falls where rock and path can be slippery.

• Uneven riverside walking, with short rough or wet sections
• Public road and bridge crossings
• Field and rights of way sections with gates, and livestock in places

The official audio trail map sets out numbered listening stops along the way, so the loop reads as a history and landscape walk as much as a waterfall visit. It is worth walking it slowly and stopping where the numbers fall, since the interest is in how the river, the mills and the villages relate to each other rather than in covering ground quickly.

Parking and public toilets are at the National Park managed car park beside the B6479 in Stainforth, and the loop starts and ends there. Keep well back from the water edge at the falls and along the river, and do not treat the cascade as a swimming spot. Dogs are welcome on this rights of way route, but keep them on a lead on rights of way and wherever livestock is present, and under close control near people and the river. If you want a shorter, more compact waterfall outing instead, the nearby Stainforth and Catrigg Force walk is a meaningfully different option.