Janet' Foss, Gordale Scar, Weets Top and Hanlith Moor.

Start: Yorkshire Dales National Park Visitor Centre car park at the southern edge of Malham village. (BD23 4DA) Grid ref. SD 899 627.

(S/E)  From the parking, walk through the car park to the road (Chapel Gate), turn left (North) and walk into the village until opposite the Blacksmiths. Cross over the road, walk behind the 'smithy'.

(1)  Cross the beck using a footbridge. Turn right (South) and follow the good path to Janet's Foss. You will arrive at a gate with a barn on your left.

(2)  Go through the gate and turn left (East) to pass the barn. Keep following the good footpath with gates to pass through until you enter some woodland. Go through the gate into the wood and continue along the path for 1.5 km to Janet's Foss. This is a popular bathing spot.

(3)  Now continue along the path up to the road (Gordale Lane). Turn right onto the road and walk (North-East) in single file to pass Gordale Bridge (refreshment van in the summer months) and the entrance to the campsite at Gordale. Turn left through the gate and walk along the track through the campsite and into Gordale.

(4) This is a popular climbing spot in summer months. After taking in the scenery head back through the campsite and onto the road. Turn left and keep following the road uphill (Hawthorns Lane) until the steep section starts to ease and there is a track on the right with a finger post.

(5) Turn right (South-East) and follow the stony track up as it bears South to the stump of a cross at Weets Gate. Go through a gate and turn left to walk 20 metres to the trig point and summit of Weets Top.

(6)  From Weets Top walk back to the gate and finger post where two tracks split. Take the right-hand track signposted Calton. This descends gently (watch out for cyclists as this is a popular track for them) with a wall on the right until a point where a feinter path leads off on the right towards the wall. Cross through and turn left to follow a feint path with Hanlith Gill Syke on your right (do not cross the gill). The path becomes more obvious and there are wooden marker posts to help navigate, particularly if you have to take deviations from the path to avoid boggy sections. The path leads across Hanlith Moor to a track which bends right.

(7) Follow the track (Windy Pike Lane) which quickly bends to the right and follow it to a tarmac road at Hanlith. Descend through the hamlet and at the second sharp bend look out for a sign post and gate to the right of a building.

(8) Go through the gate and onto the Pennine Way, follow this across a field and through a gate into a second field with the River Aire below and to your left. Follow the path around the head of a grassy gully and then descend to cross two streams before crossing an area which can be boggy to arrive back at the gate (2).

(2) Walk along the path back to the bridge (1) and then back to the car park (S/E).

Parking and Start : There is parking at the Yorkshire Dales National Park Visitor Centre at the southern edge of the village. (BD23 4DA) Grid ref. SD 899 627.
The carpark fills quickly and costs £5.50 to park for over 2 hours. There is also free parking on the edge of the road that leads to the village but please remember to park sensibly and do not block any farm gates or cause an obstruction. In addition, on busy days a paid, overflow carpark is opened in a field on the right as you approach the village.

Facilities : Few places to shelter on this walk other than behind the dry stone walls. Weets Top is a popular place to eat a snack but there are plenty of places beside the river where you can do that too.

Terrain : The paths to Janet's Foss are good but the track to Weets Gate is stony and the descent of Hanlith Moor can be muddy/boggy in places after rain, as can some of the riverside paths, particularly as you descend the Pennine Way back to (2)Take a rainproof coat as the weather can change quickly.

Refreshments : There are plenty of places for refreshments in Malham village including ice cream and pubs. The Lister Arms is particularly good but the Buck Inn and Beck Hall Hotel are also popular.

Accommodation :Hill Top Farm
 Hill Top Farm in Malham was featured in the most recent David Attenborough series "Saving our Wild Isles" as an example of farmers changing their practice to re-establish biodiversity.
The farm has a cottage and bunkhouse and the author can recommend staying here. School groups are also welcome.

Janet's Foss is a popular bathing spot, Gordale Scar is a good place to see people climbing in the summer months.

There is a nice scramble up the rocks in the middle of the waterfall, when the river is low but take care see https://www.visorando.com/en/walk-gordale-scar-malham-tarn-and-malham-cove/