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Dales Rocks: geology and more!

The Yorkshire Dales National Park was designated in 1954 in large part due to its stunning geology. The Dales Rocks website has been designed to help you explore and learn more about this special part of the Yorkshire Dales.

Baxenghyll Gorge sees the River Doe flowing through folded greywackes on the Ingleton Waterfalls walk (Stephen Oldfield)
The ancient basement exposed at the old Ingleton ‘Granite’ Quarry with greywackes and slates dating back 480 million years. Stephen Oldfield
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The Rocky Ingredients

Limestone is the classic rock of the Yorkshire Dales but there are several other rocky ingredients in the mix which are just as important.

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Rock Formation

The geology of the Ingleton/Ribblesdale area is made up of layer upon layer of ancient rocks. Each layer was formed in a different way – under tropical oceans, in steamy swamps or giant river deltas for instance. Each rocky layer carries evidence for these past landscapes.

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Geological Processes

The action of ice, water and geological faults have had profound effects on the landscape of the national park. Without them we would have no caves; no scars and no limestone pavements.

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Explore

Discover walks; geocaches and so much more. All the sites mentioned on the website are included on our interactive map.

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Thanks to generous funding from the ‘Stories in Stone’ project, the Dales Rocks website currently covers the geographical area around Ingleborough, Chapel-le-dale and Ribblesdale. Read more about the Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust and the Heritage Lottery Funded ‘Stories in Stone’ project on their dedicated websites.

The site was written by geologist and caver Stephen Oldfield. Read more about his exploits on his ‘Three Peaks Up and Under’ blog.

We hope to cover more areas of the national park in future years.