
In numbers.
Apr
Aug–Oct
Best months
298m
Elevation
The water at Hardraw Force, month by month
It roars in August and from October to March.
The fullest months: August and from October to March.
- 98%Jan
- 85%Feb
- 76%Mar
- 64%Apr
- 56%May
- 58%Jun
- 65%Jul
- 79%Aug
- 71%Sep
- 85%Oct
- 96%Nov
- 100%Dec
Best months to go, with plenty of water and pleasant days: April and from August to October.
Estimate from rain, snowmelt and evaporation month by month (NASA POWER, 1991–2020) around the falls. Dams upstream can change the real flow.
Waterfall in North Yorkshire, England, UK
Hardraw Force is a waterfall in United Kingdom.
Getting there.
- Kirkby Stephennearest town · 19 km in a straight line
- Parking 160 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Teesside International Airport (MME)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 54 km in a straight lineCar hire at LBA airport (Leeds, West Yorkshire)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- April and from August to Octoberbest months to go (estimate)
Plan your visit
Stay, explore and get there
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
Seen from the sky.
8 × 8 km of cloud-free satellite image, with what OpenStreetMap knows around the falls.
N
2 km
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 8 × 8 km, north up. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.
The line follows the river as mapped in OpenStreetMap; heights from the 30 m Copernicus model, which smooths narrow drops — the published height of the falls is the one above.
Around the falls the river drops 79 m in 2.4 km.
What is around.
- 1viewpoints
- 4waymarked walking routesPennine Way (Horton in Ribblesdale to Hawes), Pennine Way (Hawes to Tan Hill), Herriot Way and 1 more
- 18car parks
- —swimming spots
- 2picnic sites
- 6toilets
- 2information boards and visitor centres
- 2bus stops within 1 km
- 4other named waterfalls within 4 kmHorton Gill Force, Cotter Force, Ash Force and 1 more
- —caves
- 6campsitesOLD HALL COTTAGE CAMPSITE, Hawes Caravan Club Site, Honeycott Caravan Park and 3 more
- 17hotels, B&Bs and huts within 6 kmThe Crown, Herriots Guest House, Laburnum House Tea Room and 14 more
- 9restaurants and cafés within 3 km
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, up to 2 km around the falls (unless noted). A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
Towns nearby
- Kirkby Stephen19 km in a straight line
- Sedbergh21 km in a straight line
- Leyburn24 km in a straight line
- Bowes25 km in a straight line
Weather
The weather, month by month.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon °C | 4 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 13 | 16 | 18 | 17 | 15 | 11 | 7 | 5 |
| Night °C | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 3 | 1 |
| Rain & snow (mm) | 116 | 93 | 85 | 69 | 82 | 103 | 117 | 131 | 96 | 122 | 121 | 124 |
| Wet days | 19 | 16 | 17 | 15 | 16 | 18 | 20 | 20 | 17 | 19 | 20 | 20 |
| Sun h/day | 0.9 | 2.3 | 3.8 | 5.8 | 6.7 | 5.8 | 5.8 | 5.0 | 4.2 | 2.4 | 1.3 | 0.8 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 10 | 10 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8 |
Long-term averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, with temperatures carried to the height of the falls (298 m) at −6.5 °C per 1,000 m. Not a forecast.
Photos
Through visitors' eyes.
Recent years
Wet years and dry years
Rain of each month as a share of the 1991–2020 average. A wet season above 100 % usually means a fuller waterfall.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 94% | 242% | 97% | 28% | 36% | 127% | 123% | 118% | 79% | 126% | 106% | 134% |
| 2021 | 139% | 158% | 121% | 25% | 164% | 31% | 73% | 64% | 72% | 161% | 61% | 103% |
| 2022 | 49% | 181% | 64% | 78% | 103% | 71% | 67% | 48% | 100% | 115% | 111% | 80% |
| 2023 | 100% | 46% | 165% | 116% | 57% | 63% | 167% | 84% | 153% | 89% | 124% | 163% |
| 2024 | 146% | 125% | 136% | 195% | 141% | 76% | 84% | 92% | 85% | 87% | 50% | 108% |
| 2025 | 74% | 67% | 45% | 33% | 67% | 110% | 93% | 46% | 192% | 84% | 147% | 123% |
130% wetter than usual 70% drier than usual
Compare with the waterfalls nearby.
About these numbers
| Names, height, width, river | Wikidata (Q3355636) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Climate | NASA POWER, 1991–2020 |
| Relief, river profile, 3D model | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| Paths, viewpoints, parking | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
The family
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