Brimham Rocks

Brimham Rocks stand on a moor above Nidderdale, a scatter of millstone grit blocks that ice, wind and rain have cut into columns, mushrooms and balanced stacks over a very long time. Paths wind between them and people have been climbing on them for generations. The National Trust holds the site. From the top of the outcrops the view runs out across the dale and the moor beyond.

Background

The rocks lie within a 183.9-hectare Site of Special Scientific Interest on Brimham Moor, 8 miles north-west of Harrogate, first notified in 1958. The grit is between 10 and 30m thick and belongs to the Hebden Formation of the Millstone Grit Group, laid down 318-317 million years ago. Most of the shaping probably happened over the last 100,000 years, around the last ice age. Birch woodland and heath support three kinds of heather, with cowberry, bog asphodel and chickweed wintergreen. Antiquarians of the 18th and 19th centuries, Hayman Rooke among them, wondered if druids had carved some stones. Names such as Druid's Idol and Druid's Writing Desk go back up to two hundred years.

Source: Wikipedia, "Brimham Rocks"

What's there

• The balanced stacks - grit blocks left standing on narrow bases.
• The weathered shapes - columns and overhangs cut by ice and weather.
• The scrambling - the routes people work up and between the rocks.
• The dale view - Nidderdale and the moor from the higher outcrops.

When to go

April to October is the easiest visiting. Heather on the moor colours in late summer. Winter brings ice on the rock and mud on the paths.

Practical notes

The car park fills early at weekends and in school holidays. There are real drops among the rocks and no barriers; children need watching. Paths are muddy for much of the year.

Nearby

Nidderdale runs west, and Harrogate is southeast.

Key facts