This little known circuit walk in the Yorkshire Dales takes you to two hidden gems which you’re virtually guaranteed to get to yourself - perfect for escaping school holiday crowds! The first is a small canyon waterfall that you’d never expect to find as you walk along the open moors. The second is a limestone gorge with some incredible rock formations that look like something out of a fantasy novel.
The trade off for getting such lovely quiet spots to yourself is that the walk between is mainly along open moors, so it can get boggy. More on that in the trail notes below.
Here’s exactly how to find Cow Dub and Ease Gill Kirk.
The Cow Dub and Ease Gill Kirk circular walk
The stats
Distance: 3.1 miles (5km) circuit
Elevation gain: 190m
Difficulty: Moderate
Summary: The walk to Cow Dub and Ease Gill Kirk has a few hills to climb, but also plenty of flat track. Much of the walk is on moorland, so it can get very waterlogged and boggy, especially after heavy rain. We visited after many weeks of heavy rain and it wasn’t awful, but there wasn’t really any escaping wet boots at points.
When getting from Cow Dub to Ease Gill Kirk you have to walk along the dry river bed. There is usually a grassy path on one or both sides of the river, but occasionally you have to walk in the riverbed itself, which is rocky.
I wouldn’t say this section is hard, but it’s a bit tedious at times as it was quite slow going - however, it did pour with rain on us along this stretch, so things were getting slippery. In drier times, I think it would be less of an issue.
On a safety note - not that I think anyone would - but you don’t want to attempt this walk in very heavy rains. If rain is extreme in this area it can lead to flooding and the dry river would flow, making this walk unsafe.
Starting the trail to Cow Dub
From the parking area close to Bullpot Farm (exact parking details below) the walk heads left - opposite the farm - and up the grassy path (not through the little wooden gate directly next to the farm building).
For us it was quite waterlogged, but the boggy bit doesn’t last too long on this first section. You’ll pass through two large gates and it’s after the second gate that the ground gets a bit firmer again.
The first 550m of the trail are all a gentle climb and then there’s a short 50m flat stretch before you’ll come to an abandoned trailer. This is conveniently located at a trail junction, so it makes it easy to know where to turn.
You’ll need to head right here, up the narrow but obvious path. After this point you will see some intermittent white posts which act as trail markers along the next stretch of the track.
They aren’t actually for Cow Dub, but they do mark the correct path (although it is also quite obvious anyway).
Across the moors
The track is a mix of rocky and grassy paths and gently undulates - for the most part it feels quite flat. Some of the route is through extensive heather which would look gorgeous when in bloom. There are generally stones along the worst patches of boggy track and we kept dry boots all the way to Cow Dub.
Roughly 850m after the old wagon turning you’ll come to a stile marked as the ‘Lancashire Way’ and cross over the stile, following the obvious path. After another couple of hundreds metres you’ll begin descending, gently at first and then there is a short but steeper section.
The path is quite good along the descent so it’s not difficult. When you get to the broken fence, 1.8km into the walk, it’s best to head right, towards the bridge over the dry stream bed. It’s a bit rough and uneven, but wasn’t slippery and it only took a couple of minutes to reach the bridge.
Arriving at Cow Dub
Once you’ve crossed the bridge you’ll see a stile, again marked as the ‘Lancashire Way’. Cross the stile and make a hard right. It looks very overgrown with bracken, but you’ll see it’s a proper trail as you get a little further along.
You’ll then come to a short downhill section, which is a bit loose and requires more care, but it’s only a few steps down and then you’ll be at the rocky river bank. Cow Dub is hidden just behind the gorge wall you can see from the river bed (just under 2km from the parking area).
It’s pretty incredible to round the corner and see this little canyon waterfall, it feels so out of place after walking across the moors. Despite the huge amount of recent rainfall the waterfall was very slender, and whilst we’d been expecting a much higher flow, it was still a wonderful spot.
The high canyon walls definitely give it a hidden away vibe and it’s very atmospheric. The water is really clear, but does have a distinct red tinge. It’s a very small pool, so not really suitable for swimming, it’s more a nice spot to simply take in this hidden little corner of the Yorkshire Dales.
Walking the dry riverbed
Cow Dub and Ease Gill Kirk are just under a mile apart (1.5km to be precise). The route between them is not so much a trail, as a walk along, or on the sides of the dry riverbed. It’s a pretty walk for the most part, with a bracken clad cliffside and some exposed cliffs.
From Cow Dub you’ll begin along the trail on the left side of the river, passing over a stile after 200m. We found that as we continued we had to crisscross the riverbed several times, looking for the easiest path to follow along the banks.
Occasionally we had to walk over the stones in the riverbed itself, but overall this wasn’t often. Sometimes the paths on the river banks were a bit overgrown, but footing was pretty good overall.
Roughly 880m after leaving Cow Dub you’ll pass evidence of some old mine sites or potholing entrances (we’re not actually sure which), and at the 950m mark have to pass under a pipe that crosses the riverbed (easy enough). There is also one wire fence you have to climb over, but it’s a collapsed fence so easy enough to climb.
Other than that it’s basically picking the path of least resistance until you reach a stile leading right after 1.5km. Don’t climb this stile yet though, it’s just a marker so that you know it’s here you should turn left, following the narrow path above the gorge and into Ease Gill Kirk.
Arriving at Ease Gill Kirk
The narrow path runs along the top of the gorge for a few metres and then you’ll hit a rocky patch as you walk into Ease Gill Kirk. The rocks do get a bit slippery when wet so take care, particularly when you enter Ease Gill Kirk itself. The gorge floor is made of small smooth stones, which are more slippery than the big rocks.
Having said that it was very wet when we visited and with care we could explore safely - we would have preferred the dry weather that was forecast though, so try and pick a dry day if you can!
Once inside Ease Gill Kirk (which is just a few minutes from the stile) it feels like you’ve entered a different world and it definitely wouldn’t be out of place in a fantasy novel. It’s completely silent, but for the wind and the sound of the swifts flying in and out of their nests in the rock.
You can see the remains of a dry waterfall and I thought at first you could climb up into the next section of gorge - however on closer inspection it looked way too hard and would no doubt be extremely slippery.
There’s nothing of particular note to see in the gorge, it’s more about the whole atmosphere of the place, which is very enchanting. And as with Cow Dub it definitely feels like a secret spot, which was perfect for our visit in August when all the well known sites were extremely busy!
Completing the circuit
When you’re ready to leave Ease Gill Kirk you head back to the stile and this time cross it - but cross with care because this is one wobbly stile!
Follow the narrow path that heads uphill. It’s a touch muddy in places but not too difficult. As you near the top of the hill it does get very steep, and there is a bit of gravel which could get slippery, but this steep section is only a few metres or so.
Once at the top you head right and unfortunately from here the path gets very boggy - or at least very boggy after heavy rain anyway. The path is uphill for 400m before it flattens and then has a few uphill sections, but it’s not continuous. There are some pretty bad boggy bits after the path flattens and we definitely couldn’t keep our boots from flooding, although hopefully you fair better.
Roughly 1.1km after you began along the boggy path you’ll hear a waterfall and see a stile on the left. This is Bull Pot, and definitely more for cavers than walkers. You can cross the stile and see some of the waterfall from the narrow trail above it, although the view is partially obscured by foliage.
There’s sadly a memorial here for someone that lost their life jumping into the pool below, a sobering thought and frankly quite terrifying as it really does look like jumping into an abyss.
After Bull Pot you continue along the main trail and arrive back at the farmhouse 150m later.
Where to park for the Cow Dub and Ease Gill Kirk circuit
The walk begins close to the village of Casterton in Cumbria. There is no official car park for the walk, but there is room for several cars to pull fully off the road at the lay-bys just before Bullpot Farm, postcode LA6 2JP. Please keep fully off the road to allow access in and out of the farm. Note that the last three or so miles to the farm are along a single track road, which is paved and in good condition, but narrow and winding. Passing would be challenging, but luckily it doesn’t tend to be a busy road.
The drive time is around 35 minutes from Carnforth, 20 minutes from Ingleton and 40 minutes from Kendal.
Note that there are no toilets or any other facilities at the parking area or anywhere else along the trail.
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