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— England, Europe, Hiking, Travel Tips, Yorkshire —

Waterfalls, Caves, and More: Exploring Ingleton in the Yorkshire Dales

February 15, 2018

One of my goals since moving to England in 2016 was to explore the area I live in—Yorkshire. And the Yorkshire Dales National Park is one of the places I’ve really enjoyed visiting this last October! I loved my day hiking in Malham in February last year. Ingleton is a small village in the Yorkshire Dales, positioned nicely between Skipton and Kendal, Kendal being commonly toted as the entrance to the Lake District.

There aren’t a lot of attractions in the village of Ingleton itself. It’s mainly outdoor shops, cafes/coffee shops, and a couple of pubs. It’s nice for a stroll, but best attractions are outside of the village.

Ingleton Waterfalls Trail

The main reason I went to Ingleton was to see the waterfalls trail! This is a 4.5-mile circular walk around the village, taking in the spectacular waterfalls in the area!

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Unlike most outdoor/nature places in Britain, there is a charge to walk the Ingleton Waterfalls Trail. It costs £6 per person. However, this does include free parking, and the funds do go for trail conservation. If you do drive and plan on parking, make sure to get there early on weekends. When we arrived at about 10:00/10:30am, there were plenty of spaces in the lot. When we were leaving after finishing the walk and getting lunch at 2:00pm, there was a huge queue of cars waiting to get into the parking lot.

The best attractions are, of course, the waterfalls! The trail goes along the River Twiss on one side, and the River Doe on the other. One of the first ones you come across is Pecca Falls.

One of the coolest things on the Waterfalls Trail are the trees with coins stuck in them! Supposedly if you can get a coin to stick in, it’ll bring you good luck.

The real showstopper is Thornton Force. At 14 meters high, it falls over a beautiful limestone cliff. It is one of the most prominent highlights both in Ingleton, and in the Yorkshire Dales in general. Definitely make sure you don’t miss it!

The trail leads through the valley, where there’s a park center and café.

Another of the highlights is Beezley Falls. The trail continues through the woods, before emerging through an old mining area and leading back to the village.

All in all, it took me about 3 hours to walk the trail. This included plenty of stops to take photos!

White Scar Cave

Another of the major attractions in Ingleton is White Scar Cave! Located just outside the village, tours of the cave go every hour. It costs £15 for a tour of about 80 minutes (updated: 2023), and I thought this cave was amazing!

There is a waterfall in the cave itself, as well as having loads of interesting formations. Some of my favorites were the Judge’s Head and the Witch’s Fingers.

I should warn you—don’t visit this cave if you’re claustrophobic! There are parts on the tour where you need to duck down significantly, which I can’t imagine would be great for claustrophobes. The cave is also closed in bad weather (it can flood majorly there!), so check in advance that it’s open.

Ribblehead Viaduct

The last place I visited this day was the Ribblehead Viaduct! This has been on my bucket list forever, probably due to the fact that my Rough Guides Yorkshire book features it on the cover! It’s roughly a 10-minute drive from Ingleton, with plenty of (free) parking available around the road.

The viaduct is 104 feet (32 meters) high, and 1320 feet (400 meters) across. It still carries trains across its 24 arches every day on the Settle-Carlisle railway line! Construction took 4 years and was completed in 1874.

If you’re interested in big hikes in the area, Ingleton is also perfectly located for climbing Ingleborough, one of the Three Peaks in Yorkshire. It’s also not far from the other two of the Three Peaks, Whernside and Pen-y-Ghent.

I loved my day exploring Ingleton, even though the weather was grey and threatening rain (or drizzling) all day. This is a great place to explore in the Yorkshire Dales!

Have you been to Ingleton or the Yorkshire Dales?

You might also like my posts:

The BEST Places to Visit in the Yorkshire Dales

Hiking Ingleborough From Clapham in the Yorkshire Dales

Whernside: The Highest Peak in Yorkshire

Exploring the Yorkshire Dales: Hiking Pen-y-Ghent

A Quick Guide to Aysgarth Falls in the Yorkshire Dales

Hawes, Hardraw Force, and More: Waterfalls in Wensleydale

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10 thoughts on “Waterfalls, Caves, and More: Exploring Ingleton in the Yorkshire Dales”

  1. I love Ingleton, especially the waterfall trail. I used to go to a caravan in Ingleton every summer with my grandparents when I was little and remember the huge feat of climbing Ingleborough (which I first did when I was about 7). Am yet to hike it as an adult though.
    On my last trip to Ingleton I found the Ingleton pottery and ended up buying a new wine goblet and carafe set.
    White Scar is also fab as is Ingleborough Cave and the huge hole in the ground that is Gaping Gill.
    Can also highly recommend a journey on the Settle-Carlisle railway on one of their Steam days! It’s an amazing ride!
    Between your blog and my reminiscing, I’ve really ignited a want to head back there soon! Cheers Maja! Xx

    1. That’s so great! I would love to do the hike up Ingleborough, and the Settle-Carlisle railway is definitely on my Yorkshire Bucket List! 😉 Hope you can get back to Ingleton sometime soon 🙂

  2. Some of the tourist attraction I have seen: Dambulla Caves, Sigiriya Rock and 2 natural parks, Minneriya & Wilpattu. Dambulla Caves is generously presented as a caves “complex” when, to be honest, you can say that are some beautifully decorated rooms.

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