Natural Features

The mighty power of nature has left its mark on the North Yorkshire landscape. Ice ages and their associated glacial periods have swept through leaving behind limestone craters, imposing rocks, gorges and high cliffs.

Limestone landscapes are a feature of the Yorkshire Dales National Park, where you can see impressive limestone ridges and high limestone cliffs in the distance and walk on dramatic limestone paving. Huge underground cave systems can be explored, either as accessible show caves or harder to explore networks for cavers and potholers.

In the Nidderdale National Landscape towering gritstone rocks carved into strange and wonderful shapes offer stunning views and a challenge for climbers. The rock shapes are so dramatic that many have been named.

High up in the Yorkshire Dales between Wensleydale and Swaledale is the Buttertubs Pass, a dramatic road through breathtaking scenery named after the limestone potholes nearby. It is believed the deep crevices of the potholes were used to store butter, hence the name.

Along the Yorkshire Coast, high cliffs of limestone, clay and sandstone formed during the Jurassic period rise above the coastal towns and villages protecting the sandy beaches below. Fossils can be found in the surrounding rocks all along the North Yorkshire coast.

Pretty waterfalls can be found across the area, Mallyan Spout in the North York Moors National Park stands at 21 metres and Hardraw Force in the Yorkshire Dales National Park is one of the tallest uninterrupted waterfalls in England at 30 metres.