Yorkshire Walks

Footbridge from the car park to the visitor centre at Bowlees

We parked in the visitor centre car park, map ref. NY907282, at about 9.30am. We crossed the footbridge over Flushlemere Beck and followed the footpath through the woods for about 100m to the visitor centre in Bowlees village.

Today I am on grandad duty to collect my little grand daughter from her nursery between 3.00 and 3.30pm so we had to make an early start. Just after 8.00am we set out to drive to Bowlees in Teesdale.

The visitor centre at Bowlees

Track from Bowlees to Ash Hill

All the buildings here are painted white

Another white farmhouse

He was given short shrift by the tenant when it transpired that he was on a neighbouring estate and not his own land. When he eventually arrived back home he decreed that all the buildings on his estate must be painted white to identify the extent of his estate. Well all the buildings here are white but only a few kilometers away they are all natural stone.

We walked in front of the visitor centre and set off along a track through the fields heading North West to Ash Hill and Dirt Pit. Neither name does justice to the very pleasant scenery at both places. All the buildings here are white and the story goes that the local land owner was caught in a tremendous storm whilst out riding and called at the farm he was passing to demand hospitality until the storm abated.

A brand new grass rake

Track from Bowlees to Ash Hill

A pretty stream at Dirt Pit called Smithy Sike

Here we crossed the road to follow a path across the fields for about 500m to the tourist car park for High Force (complete with toilets).

At Dirt Pit the track became a narrow tarmaced lane which we followed to the junction at Map ref. NY890289.

Birds Foot Trefoil

Most of this field was covered with a mixture of buttercups and speedwells

Then we crossed the road to have our tickets punched at the entrance to the private path through the woods to the foot of the falls.

Near the entrance to the car park is a gift shop where the tickets are on sale to view High Force from river level. As three old codgers we bought three concessions at 1 each.

Path down to the High Force view point

High Force on the River Tees from the visitor view point

Steps down to the River Tees from the road (B6277)

After almost 15 minutes gazing at the sight we retraced our steps to the kiosk at the entrance to the path at the road. We walked about 100m along the road and turned off to the right to follow a path down through some woods to the river side.

It's about 600m to the river at the foot of the falls and what a spectacular sight it is when you get there! There was quite a lot of water in the river after the recent rain and we could hear the thunder of the falls long before we could see them.

A wild orchid by the path

Footbridge over the River Tees about 1km downstream from High Force

Caterpillar webs on a willow tree

We crossed the river to join the Pennine Way route on the far side.

We walked about 250m by the river side to a footbridge over the Tees at map ref. NY889283.

Mountain pansies by the Pennine Way

Woodland carpeted with Dogs Mercury - this suggests that there has been woodland here for a very long time

Juniper berries

At the end of this path we had a view of High Force from the cliff top just downstream of the falls. After that we made our way to the rocks at the top of the falls

We turned right to follow the Pennine Way upstream for about 1km. Here there is a little side path through the juniper bushes.

A juniper bush

High Force seen from the Pennine Way

Standing above High Force on the River Tees

After our lunch break we set off to walk along the river bank following the Pennine Way downstream for almost 3km.

There we sat for our lunch with an amazing view of the river and the roar of the falls in our ears.

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Birds foot trefoil with ground ivy and wild thyme

An orchid on the river bank

The River Tees from the Pennine Way near Bowlees

Knapweed

Low Force on the River Tees

Four old tupps by the Pennine Way

Just below Low Force is a pedestrian suspension bridge called Wynch Bridge, over the Tees. We crossed the bridge and walked through the woods on the river band to cross two fields that brought us back to Bowlees Village.

This brought us to a series of waterfalls called Low Force. They are not as spectacular as High Force but are still well worth a visit to see the impressive cascade of white water tumbling through the rocks.

Low Force on the River Tees

Wynch Bridge over the River Tees below Low Force

We stopped on the way back for a coffee, but the service was much too slow for a toasted teacake or a bacon roll. We arrived back home just in time to collect my grand daughter from her nursery and was presented with a pile of her drawings and models to admire.

From there we made our way back to the car park where we had started. The whole route had been 11km and had taken us almost 4 hours to walk including our lingering stops at High Force.

Heading back to Bowlees across the fields