Malham Cove & Watlowes

This dried-up 80m waterfall has carved a huge ‘cove’ into the hillside and would once have been on the same scale as Niagara Falls. On 7th December 2015 it was brought back to life by Storm Desmond, it’s thought for the first time in centuries, and briefly is visible today. After marching, Roman soldiers could build a camp like this in a few hours, digging a trench, building a rampart with the soil, and topping it with a pallisade of posts carried on the march.

Directions: From Malham Tarn parking (see 3) head E for a mile. Go straight over the rough crossroads to reach a gate in a wall and a signboard for the Roman camp. Climb the gate and continue on the path E for a mile through the large rectangle of the camp, over a stream ford. Mastiles Lane continues E from here. It can also be approached from the byway at Smearbottoms Lane (BD23 4DN), 2 miles E of Malham past Gordale Scar campsite (B23 4DL).