Low Force and High Force

Now that the shorter days are with us, it’s more difficult to get over to the Western Fells so we are doing some walks nearer to home.  It’s been a long time since I was at High Force and I have never been to Low Force.  Peter had been here in the last few years so we thought this would be a nice walk with a short drive home.

A later start would do today so we had the luxury of a pick up at 7.30 am instead of 6.00 am.  We drove towards Middleton in Teesdale and then on to Bowlees Visitor Centre to park up.

Start of the walk

We were ready to walk at about quarter to nine and tucked into steak pies for breakfast.  We started in the direction of Gibsons Cave.

 

It was a short walk along to Gibsons cave, a small waterfall that you could stand underneath and watch the water crashing over you.

Low Force

We walked back towards the car park and then crossed over a little bridge towards Bowlees Visitor Centre.  Onwards down the lane towards Low Force.

Our route was going to take us the other side of the river Tees up to High Force and beyond.  The path was good by the side of the river, crossing through lots of gates.

High Force

Very shortly we reached High Force and it was in full force today.

It was a good view of High Force from this side of the river and from a height, different perspective to the other side of the river.  We carried on up the river bank, stopping near Bleabeck Force for a cuppa.

The walk now began to climb as we followed the Pennine Way.

It was a short climb and very soon we were dropping back down to the river to cross it near Wat Garth.

As we began to walk away from the river on the other side we saw this very strange sight.

Parked up by the side of the track and in fairly good nick, not really sure why it had been left here.  It reminded us of a walk to Tarn Crag and Branstree back in 2009 where we found a car parked high up on a path.

Just after Wat Garth we joined the road and followed this for a little over a mile down the hill to the High Force hotel.  We took another bait stop at the picnic tables near the hotel.  Unusual for our bait stops to include a table.

Walk back to the car

From the hotel we could drop back down to the river and walk along the other side of the Tees or climb a little towards Dirt Pit and then back to the car. The river side was shorter and we thought would be more to see.  So we walked down the steps towards the river.  There were 3 or 4 people ahead of us walking across a cow field.  The young cows got a little spooked by the people so the older cows got a little protective.  The 3 or 4 people made a sharp exit back towards us, however we did not think it was wise to wind the cows up any more and leave them be.  So we walked back up the steps and took the Dirt Pit route.

We passed through a farm and walked most of the way on an unmade road all the way back to the car.

It was a mile and a half from the hotel back to Bowlees and the car just beyond.

Time for a drink in the Visitor centre and only an hours drive back home.

Check out the new 3D view feature on the Viewranger route below.  See you on the next one.