I don’t often venture into the Yorkshire Dales for walks, despite how local they are to me. I always seem to overlook the Yorkshire Dales for the Peak District for a local one or for the Lake District or North Wales when I have a full day.
I thought it was about time I corrected that oversight and with a few hours to hike available on a dry winter day, I decided to take a trip to Malham.
I’m utterly delighted that I did as well. For little more than a 2 hour walk, I got two waterfalls, a gorge that was breathtaking and even a Harry Potter filming location. Here’s everything you need to know if you fancy checking out this pretty magical walk for yourself.
This is an 8km walking route taking in Janet’s Foss, Gordale Scar and Malham Cove!
In other words, you get a couple of waterfalls, a Harry Potter filming location and a in just a couple of hours. What a Yorkshire Dales walk this was. Here’s the details:
| Hike date | February 2025 |
| Weather conditions | Cold and windy but relatively clear and dry |
| Distance hiked | 8km |
| Walking time | 2 hours 5 minutes |
| Elevation gain total | 299m |
| Terrain | Varied. Some gravel paths, some rocky and muddy sections. |
| Rating Out of 5 | This is a 5/5 for me! |
For a relatively easy going sub-10km walk, the views on this are quite something.
You get:
- The pretty village of Malham
- The quaint riverside paths
- Janet’s Foss waterfall
- The incredible Gordale Scar gorge and its waterfalls
- Malham Cove (Harry Potter filming location)
For literally a 2 hour walk! What epic hiking value. Here’s the route and some photographs from what I reckon is a pretty magical Yorkshire Dales hike.
Janet’s Foss, Gordale Scar and Malham Cove Walking Route
I followed this route:
There are plenty of much longer hiking routes around here and this is pretty much the shortest route that allows you to take in the 3 big sights.
Parking up in Malham and Getting Going
There’s loads of parking in Malham. It was a Friday morning during the school term when I went so it was quiet. But I imagine this gets busy on weekends. There’s plenty of parking in the Pay and Display car park at the Malham Visitor Information Centre. There’s also on street parking for a £2 cash donation.
From the car park, you’re just a few paces away from the Beck side path which gets you on your way to Janet’s Foss:
The start of the walk looks a bit like this. It was particularly peaceful on the quiet Friday morning I was there.
Janet’s Foss
It’s only a couple of kilometres along well marked paths until you reach that beauty that is Janet’s Foss.
Just LOOK at this place. The waters were so crystal clear and beautiful here that I was almost tempted to have a dip.
But then I remembered that it’s February, freezing and I had no swim kit. So that put paid to that idea. But I feel as though I should come back in the summer to follow through on that swim.
I managed to get this place to myself for a few short minutes before other people behind me on the route arrived.
Onto Gordale Scar
From here it isn’t too far a walk to Gordale Scar.
I didn’t really know what to expect from Gordale Scar, having not looked into that as much as other parts of this walk.
Even on approach to Gordale Scar, I was already fairly mesmerised with the scenery.
And when you turn the corner at the end of the path, you’re suddenly hit with a jaw dropping view of an incredibly gorge.
I really feel as though the photographs I took didn’t do justice to how stunning a location this is.
Had I had more time available, I’d have scrambled up Gordale Scar and picked up some of the paths above to extend my route. But today it had to be a fairly quick one with commitments later in the day.
With less time available than I’d have liked, I turned back to follow the path back away from Gordale Scar to pick up the path over fields towards Malham Cove.
Malham Cove
The walk on towards Malham Cove is largely over fields. These paths, however, are some of the best sign posted paths I’ve ever walked on. And the views across the Yorkshire Dales were sublime.
Eventually you get your first view of Malham Cove from a distance.
The eagle eyed Harry Potter fans amongst you will most likely recogise Malham Cove as a filming location from Part of the Deathly Hallows:
It’s such a unique spot and again, with the weather luck on my side, I had views!
From here, you take a sharp, steep path back down and follow the path back into Malham.
When you look back you get an awesome view of the full of Malham Cove from the bottom:
It’s a short walk back into Malham. I stopped for a breakfast sandwich in the tea room having managed the route quicker than I’d anticipated.
This is a walk well worth doing!
Is the Malham Cove walk it child friendly?
If the child can walk, then absolutely. You know best what sort of distance your own children can follow. But I would be happy that my 7 and 9 year old would get around this route just fine and there are plenty of points of interest to keep their attention throughout.
I have a 4 year old who I don’t think would quite cover the distance yet. And do bear in mind that there are cliff edges at Malham Cove, so bringing flight risk children might not be the best idea!
The path is not pram friendly. Some of it is but lots of it wouldn’t be suitable for a pram. So leave the pram home and maybe consider a toddler hiking carrier for little legs that can’t quite carry themselves yet.
Does Malham Cove get Busy?
It was pretty quiet when I visited but it was a term time Friday in winter.
I can tell that the place is geared up for larger numbers of visitors through through the parking and sign posting.
I’ve seen some photos online showing this place really busy, so if you do prefer to avoid the crowds, maybe stick with mid week in the school term where possible or arrive early on the weekends.
Malham Cove, Janet’s Foss and Gordale Scar Video
Here’s the short video I took:
@staceyhikes A gorgeous walk in the Yorkshire Dales. 8km, less than 300m of elevation gain: 📍 Janet’s Foss 📍 Gordale Scar 📍 Malham Cove (Harry Potter filming location!) There are lots of longer hiking routes around taking in these 3 beauty spots in. But for a less-than-half-day walk this is spectacular! #yorkshire #yorkshiredales #hiking #hiketok #malhamcove #getoutside #adventuretime ♬ Live In The Spirit – Glorify & CHILLØUT
Would I do this one again?
Yes. And I probably will in just a few weeks. I would like to get in a scramble up Gordale Scar and to take in an extended route.
In all, this is one of the loveliest walks I’ve been on in ages!
