text: Yorkshire Walks - My Walking Diary route no 410
  Looking up Cowside Beck with Fountains Fell in the distance
  Route No. 63 - 12 February 2003
  Arncliffe, River Skirfare, Street Gate,
  Yew Cogar Scar, Littondale - 18km
  Map: OS Explorer OL2 Yorkshire Dales Southern & Western areas at 1:25000
  The village green in Arncliffe
  We took the path by the church to the riverside and walked downstream for about 3km to Out Gang Lane where we left the river Skirfare.
  This morning four of us met at the village green in Arncliffe in Littondale (map ref. SD 932718) at about 10.00.
  The village church in Arncliffe
  River Skirfare looking up Littondale
  Top of the waterfall on Cote Gill
  About 2km from Arncliffe Cote we stopped to look at the waterfall on Cote Gill at map ref. SD932692 with a view down Cote Gill back into Littondale itself.
  Old lime kiln by the path to Street Gate
  The combination of limestone hills and the heavy Pennine rainfall has sculpted this whole area into an amazing mixture of limestone cliffs, limestone pavements, steep valleys and waterfalls. It's a wonderful place to walk.
  We walked the 300m up the lane to the main road along the valley. We turned back up the valley for about 200m to the farm road on our left to Arncliffe Cote. We followed the public bridleway along the farm road and onto the hill side climbing up above Cote Gill.
  Waterfall on Cote Gill
  We followed the bridleway for about 6km to Street Gate near Malham Tarn.
  Wild open country on the way to Street Gate
  Heading for Yew Cogar Scar from Middle House
  Heading for the Monks' Road from Middle House
  The path along Yew Cogar Scar above Cowside Beck
  We continued along this path to the ruins of Middle House and about 200m beyond the ruins we took the right hand fork in the path which forms the 'Monks' Road' above Yew Cogar Scar.
  When we reached Street Gate we turned onto the bridleway heading north along the stone farm road towards Middle House Farm. Just before the farm at map ref. SD907675, the path goes over a stile to climb the hill.
  Looking up Littondale from Yew Cogar Scar
  The whole route was about 18km and took us about five and a half hours to complete including our refreshment stops.
  The path is following the steep sided valley of Cowside Beck. There is a steep descent from the end of the scar back down into Arncliffe.