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Ask anyone to name a waterfall in the Yorkshire Dales and you will hear the same three: Hardraw, Aysgarth, Janet's Foss. All are worth the trip, and all come with a queue on a sunny Sunday. The falls below are different. They hide up side valleys and behind farm gates, and most ask for nothing more than twenty minutes of walking and a bit of care on wet ground. Each entry gives you the distance, how hard it feels underfoot, and where to leave the car.
Walk: half a mile each way. Difficulty: easy. Parking: the signed car park on the A684 between Hawes and Sedbergh.
A firm, wide track runs from the car park to two tiers of water sliding over a limestone shelf into a deep pool. There are benches, and the flat surface makes this the pick of the twelve if you're pushing a buggy or walking with someone who finds rough ground difficult. After a dry fortnight it can shrink to a trickle, so save it for a wet week.
Walk: two minutes from the road. Difficulty: easy. Parking: a small area beside the road at Wain Wath; if it's full, park in Keld and walk down.
The Swale pours over a wide ledge here, and in summer you'll find families paddling in the flat water below. Arrive before nine or come out of season and you'll have it to yourself. The rocks are polished by years of feet and are far more slippery than they look.
Walk: 0.4 mile from the village. Difficulty: easy. Parking: the small car park in Keld.
Follow the lane down to the footbridge, where the beck makes two short drops into a shaded pool. It sits on the Coast to Coast path, so you won't be alone in summer, but the walk is short enough to fit into an afternoon that's already half gone.
Walk: 1.5 miles there and back. Difficulty: moderate, stepped and muddy at the top. Parking: the town car parks in Hawes; Gayle itself has almost no space.
From Gayle, a path climbs steadily up the side of the gill to a curtain of water in a wooded ravine. It isn't really a viewpoint, more a place to stand and listen for ten minutes. Best after rain, and best in boots.
Walk: 1 mile. Difficulty: easy to moderate, with one stile and a footbridge. Parking: on-street in Askrigg, parked considerately.
The path leaves the village past the church and follows a track before dropping to the beck. You'll hear the fall before you see it. The pool underneath is tempting on a hot day; stay out of it, as the water is cold enough to take your breath away even in August.
Walk: 2.5 miles. Difficulty: moderate, rough in the upper section. Parking: as for Mill Gill.
Keep going past Mill Gill and the people thin out within a few hundred metres. Whitfield Gill Force is taller and narrower, reached by a rougher path, and often entirely yours. This is the one to choose if you'd rather earn your view.
Walk: 1.5 miles. Difficulty: moderate, a steady climb. Parking: the village of Stainforth, where space is very limited.
Climb the lane out of the village and you reach a wooded gorge with one clean curve of water dropping into a dark pool. There's a bench, no crowds and a lot of quiet. Take the climb slowly and the reward is one of the least-visited falls in the National Park.
Walk: 0.75 mile. Difficulty: steep down and back up. Parking: a couple of spaces at the top of High Hill Lane; otherwise walk up from Settle and add a mile.
Yew trees, a limestone amphitheatre and a fall dropping into a bowl that echoes when there's water in it. Wet limestone is treacherous, so admire it from the path rather than scrambling down to the plunge pool.
Walk: 1 mile. Difficulty: moderate and often muddy. Parking: Cowgill or Dent.
A field path leads to a narrow, tree-covered gorge where the beck disappears and reappears as a half-hidden fall. It's short, atmospheric and rarely busy. Keep children close, as the path runs near the drop and the ground holds water for days after rain.
Park once in Keld and you can see East Gill Force, Catrake Force, Kisdon Force and Wain Wath Force in a loop of about 2.5 miles. Head downstream from the village; Kisdon is the largest, dropping into a deep pool beneath a shoulder of the fell. The return to Keld is steep and stepped, and slippery when wet, which is what pushes this from easy into moderate-to-hard. Allow an hour and a half, more if you stop for photographs at every drop.
Walk: 3.5 miles. Difficulty: moderate. Parking: the Bolton Abbey estate car parks, where a charge applies.
From the Cavendish Pavilion, cross the river and climb into Posforth Gill. After heavy rain the beck tumbles over a run of small falls under a canopy of beech, and it stays far quieter than the Strid a mile downstream. Easy to combine with a longer circuit up through the Valley of Desolation.
None of these walks needs a full day or a complicated plan. Match one to the weather and your legs, take a flask, and set off early: the difference between a crowded fall and an empty one is usually about an hour.
Photo: Kanenori / Pixabay
