We are also close to the Pennine Way – only about ten miles by road – joining the route just past Kirkby Malham. The Pennine Way – one of the country’s National Trails – runs from the Peaks District in the south, and Northumberland in the north, and chases along the mountain tops along the rugged backbone of England, offering 268 miles of the finest upland walking in England.
Malham Cove features as one of the Pennine Way’s top attractions and is definitely worth a visit. It’s a huge curving amphitheatre shaped cliff formation of limestone rock and the vertical face of the cliff is 260 feet high. The top of the cove is a large area of deeply eroded limestone pavement. The cove is a short walk from the public car park in the village. Walk along the road and then a surfaced path across fields to the bottom of the cove for a great view. A further scramble over rocks takes you to the very base of the cove and the emergence of a river at its base.
If you continue to follow the Pennine Way, you will find stone steps at the left side of the cove which will take you up onto the limestone pavement at the top for stunning views over Malhamdale.
Two circular walks take in the base and top of Malham Cove. A longer circular walk including Malham Tarn and Gordale Scar, or the walk can be shortened by missing out Malham Tarn and following the Malham Landscape Trail.
The National Trails’ website gives comprehensive information and maps about the Pennine Way, showing where it cuts through our part of Yorkshire. Visit www.nationaltrail.co.uk/pennine-way.