Ilkley Moor: the Cow and Calf and the Twelve Apostles

The walk starts from the Cow and Calf car park on Hangingstone Road above Ilkley and makes a circuit of the moor. It passes the Cow and Calf rocks and climbs by Backstone Beck to the moor top, where a flagged path leads south to the Twelve Apostles, a Bronze Age stone circle. The route returns north along the flags, bears north-west over the top of Ilkley Crags and descends to White Wells, an old spa bath house. A track drops towards the town, and a path runs east past the Tarn and below the crags back to the Cow and Calf.

It is 6.5 km with 236 m of ascent; allow about 2¼ hours. The grade is Easy: one steady climb onto the moor on good paths, then mostly downhill.

Bradford Council, which manages the moor, asks for dogs to be under close control, and on a lead near livestock and from March to July, when birds nest on the ground. Fires, barbecues and fireworks are banned on the moor by a public order. The ground near the stone circle is boggy, and the crags and old quarries have big drops. The moor has many paths, and in mist a map and compass are needed on the top.

The car park is free. Ben Rhydding station, on the Wharfedale line, is about 1 km away.

Route drawn by Global Adventurer along OpenStreetMap paths (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL), with figures worked out from it. Check the forecast and the ground on the day: paths change.