A three-day walking route in the western Dales: Malham, Settle and Ingleton
Limestone pavement above a curved cliff with walkers on the path below
Three linked walking days totalling about 30 miles and 4,500 feet of ascent, with two bases, one optional summit and honest advice on which day to drop if the cloud comes down.
The plan in one paragraph, and who it suits
Day one is the Malham horseshoe, about eight miles with 1,300 feet of climb. Day two is Pen-y-ghent from Horton in Ribblesdale, six and a half miles and 1,600 feet, or the Settle Loop as the gentler swap. Day three is the Ingleton Waterfalls Trail at four and a half miles, with Ingleborough as the hard option at nine miles and 2,000 feet. Total across three days is roughly 30 miles. Nothing is remote in Alpine terms — you are never more than two hours from a road — but the ground is limestone, and limestone is slick.
This suits walkers who can manage a steady four hours with a pack and a sandwich, including reasonably fit teenagers and most people over 60 who walk regularly at home. It does not suit anyone uneasy with exposure: the final pull up Pen-y-ghent's nose involves hands-on scrambling on rock steps, and Gordale Scar's waterfall route is a genuine, if short, climb. Both have flat alternatives, and both are in this itinerary as choices rather than obligations. Boots with real tread are non-negotiable on all three days.
Day one: the Malham horseshoe, stop by stop
Start from the National Park car park in Malham by 9.30am. Walk south to the beck and take the field path to Janet's Foss, a mossy fall in a hazel gorge where the local tale has a fairy queen behind the water. Continue up the lane to Gordale Scar, a ravine so deep the sky narrows to a slot. If the beck is low and you are steady, climb the waterfall steps and come out on the moor above; if it is running hard, retrace half a mile and take the field path to Malham Tarn instead. That decision takes 30 seconds and saves accidents.
From the tarn, England's highest marl lake at 1,237 feet, follow the Pennine Way south across Prior Rakes to the head of Malham Cove and the limestone pavement — clints and grykes wide enough to swallow a leg, and instantly recognisable to anyone who has watched the later Harry Potter films. Descend the 400-odd stone steps on the west side, then walk the flat mile back into the village along the beck. Allow four and a half hours plus stops. The village pubs stop food around 8.30pm, so plan dinner rather than assuming.
Where to sleep after day one
Malham itself has a handful of guesthouses, a bunkhouse-style hostel and two pubs with rooms, and everything sells out from Easter to October — reckon £95 to £150 for a double with breakfast, and book months ahead for bank holidays. The advantage is waking up in the valley with no drive; the disadvantage is a village of about 150 people with limited evening options and no shop worth the name after 5pm.
The alternative is Settle, seven miles west and 15 minutes by car, where the Market Place has more choice, a Tuesday market, a Co-op, a chip shop and B&Bs from about £85. Settle is also on the railway, which matters if anyone in the party is arriving separately. If you are two nights in one place, Settle is the smarter base for this whole itinerary: it is 20 minutes from Malham, 15 from Horton and 25 from Ingleton, so no day starts with a long transfer.
Day two: Pen-y-ghent, or the Settle Loop instead
Drive or take the train to Horton in Ribblesdale and park in the pay-and-display by the cafe. Sign the safety board if the Three Peaks system is operating, then take the Brackenbottom path — a relentless walled climb of about 1,300 feet in under two miles that puts you at the shoulder. The final 200 feet is a scramble up gritstone steps: hands on rock, no ropes, but not somewhere to be in a strong crosswind. The 2,277-foot summit gives you Ingleborough and Whernside laid out west, and Fountains Fell south.
Descend north-west on the Pennine Way past Hunt Pot and Hull Pot — the latter a collapsed cavern 300 feet long that fills spectacularly after storms — and back down the green lane to Horton. Five hours with lunch. If cloud is below 1,800 feet, do the Settle Loop instead: about ten miles of bridleway from the Market Place over Langcliffe Scar and Attermire Scar, with caves, a Roman-era hillfort site and views down Ribblesdale, all under the cloud base and all on solid track.
Day three: Ingleton waterfalls, and the Ingleborough option
The Ingleton Waterfalls Trail is a privately run four-and-a-half-mile circuit through the Twiss and Doe gorges, taking in Thornton Force, Pecca Falls and Beezley Falls on constructed paths, steps and bridges. There is an admission charge at the entrance and a car park fee; check the current rates and opening times with the trail operator before setting out, as they change season to season. Allow two and a half to three hours. It is the best wet-weather walk in the western Dales and the only one on this list where waterproof trousers actively improve the day.
If the forecast is clear and legs are willing, swap in Ingleborough from Ingleton: nine miles round via Crina Bottom, 2,000 feet of ascent to the flat 2,372-foot summit plateau with its Iron Age rampart. It is a steeper, lonelier route than the tourist path from Clapham. Either way, finish in Ingleton village for tea and a bacon sandwich, and consider White Scar Cave a mile up the B6255 — a guided walk of about 80 minutes through a show cave with an underground river, good for tired knees.
Kit, conditions and the things that go wrong
Limestone polishes. On wet rock at Malham Cove's pavement and Gordale's steps, worn soles behave like ice skates, which is why Dales mountain rescue teams spend so much time on ankle injuries a mile from a car park. Carry a paper map or an offline GPS: signal is intermittent across Fountains Fell and non-existent in the Ingleton gorges. Take more water than you expect in summer — limestone country has almost no surface streams on the tops, and the ones that exist run through sheep pasture.
Weather here changes on the hour. Ribblesdale funnels westerlies straight off Morecambe Bay, and a still morning in Settle can be a 40mph gust on Pen-y-ghent's summit ridge two hours later. Pack a proper shell, a warm layer even in July, and a head torch from October. Check the Met Office mountain forecast rather than the town forecast. Finally, tell someone your route: the standard error here is starting Pen-y-ghent at 3pm in October and finishing the descent in the dark.
Getting between the three days without a car
It is possible, with planning. Settle and Horton are both stations on the Settle to Carlisle line, so day two needs no driving at all — walk from the platform. Malham is served by seasonal and Sunday DalesBus services from Skipton and Settle, and Ingleton by buses from Settle and Lancaster; frequencies are thin, and Sunday patterns differ from weekdays, so confirm timings with the operators before you rely on a last bus.
The pragmatic hybrid is to base in Settle for all three nights, use the train for the Horton day, and split one taxi fare between the group for Malham and Ingleton — expect roughly £20 to £30 each way for the Malham run. That beats moving luggage between three villages and leaves you eating dinner in a town with more than one kitchen. If you want a single-base, zero-driving version, drop Ingleton and repeat a second Ribblesdale day at Ribblehead instead.
Before you book
What people ask before booking Settle.
It is about 60 feet of hands-on rock steps near the top of the Brackenbottom approach, graded easy scrambling with good holds and no long drop beside you. Most reasonably agile walkers manage it. Avoid it in ice, strong wind, or with a nervous child, and use the Horton green-lane route in reverse instead.
Only on the low route. The waterfall climb out of the ravine is unsuitable for dogs and for anyone carrying one. Walk in to see the chasm, then retrace to the Janet's Foss path and reach Malham Tarn by the field route. Sheep are everywhere on these walks, so keep dogs on a lead throughout.
Late May to mid-June: long daylight, dry limestone, hay meadows in flower around Malham, and fewer people than August. September is a close second. Avoid February and March if you want the waterfalls without full winter kit, and expect the busiest car parks on any sunny weekend from Easter onward.
