Following on from my Lake District Waterfalls guide I began to put together a short guide to some of the best waterfalls in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. This is a section that I will be working on over the coming months and years hoping to visit more of the beautiful waterfalls in the national park hopefully in some more favourable conditions. There are many waterfalls in the Yorkshire Dales, some of which are easily accessible from the roadside, others require more active access. There are a number of guided walks in the Yorkshire Dales which visit a few different falls in a circular walk, the most popular is the Ingleton Waterfalls Trail, Another which I have completed a couple of times starts in Malham and you can visit Malham Cove, Janets Foss and Goredale Scar in a manageable circular walk. More details and location information for many of the waterfalls in this post can be found in the great guide book The Photographer's Guide to the Yorkshire Dales by E. Bowness which is a series I often use when location planning.

Scaleber Force is a popular spot for photographers and with good reason. With easy access with parking right next to the top of the falls and the proximity to both Malham and Settle makes Scaleber an ideal stop when out photographing Malham Cove or Goredale Scar. The falls can be accessed from 2 paths, one runs directly to the bottom of the main falls, the second runs down to the lower cascades where you can capture the smaller falls in front of the main drop. Light levels in the valley can be difficult, on some mornings the falls are bathed in direct sunlight whilst most of the day they light levels are low allowing longer exposures but making keeping detail in the surroundings more complex.

*Scaleber Force Waterfall near Settle in the Yorkshire Dales*

Stainforth Force Waterfall is difficult to access to get a good view of the falls as there is nowhere to stand directly at the bottom of the falls. When I visited the water levels were relatively high so I decided to shoot the falls from the side capturing the power of the storm waters.

*Stainforth Force Waterfall in the Yorkshire Dales*

Goredale Scar is an amazing place and really worth the visit. In good conditions the path runs directly up the waterfall and you can carry on the walk up to the limestone pavement above. The path runs up the side of the beck and turns a bend before opening up in the main falls area. There are good opportunities to shoot people climbing the falls. Above the first waterfall are more falls and opportunities to come back with a shot which is unique as most people stick to the lower falls.

*Goredale Scar Waterfall near Malham in the Yorkshire Dales*

Janets Foss waterfall sits not far from Goredale so can be visited on the same trip, access to the falls is easy from the road. There are good opportunities here to shoot directly into the pool but care is needed as the light levels can vary in the woodland making obtaining an evenly lit waterfall photo quite difficult.

Thornton Force is a waterfall I have wanted to visit for a long time and in autumn 2014 I finally made the visit. The waterfall is on the Ingleton waterfalls trail, on this occasion we combined a visit to Thornton Force with a walk up to Twistleton Scar.