Low Force Waterfall
Nature Reserves, Country Parks & Beaches · Staindrop, County Durham
No reviews yet
Open now — closes 5pm
🌳 Outdoor🆓 Free entry🌲 WoodlandEducational
What’s there
- Paid parking
- Picnic area
Park at Bowlees Picnic Site on the B6277, 4 miles from Middleton-in-Teesdale; short walk across the road to the waterfall. Parking is charged.
Only facilities we’ve confirmed are listed — anything missing here we simply haven’t checked, rather than know to be absent.
Low Force is an 18-foot (5.5m) high set of stepped cascades on the River Tees, formed by the Whin Sill — a layer of hard dolerite rock that cooled and solidified underground 295 million years ago. Located near Bowlees in Upper Teesdale, County Durham, it is the sister waterfall of the more famous High Force further upstream. Unlike a single dramatic drop, Low Force spreads wide across the rock, breaking into a series of stepped cascades. Low Force is free to visit and accessible via an easy 0.8-mile return walk from Bowlees Visitor Centre, making it a perfect family-friendly outing. The walk follows well-maintained gravel paths through woodland and open countryside, with views of the historic Wynch Bridge — a suspension bridge completed in 1830. The site is within the North Pennines National Landscape and UNESCO Global Geopark. Low Force has also been used as a filming location for the movies ‘1917’ and Netflix’s ‘The Witcher’.
Stuff to take with you
The things people wish they’d packed for a day out like this one.
- Wellies
- Refillable water bottleMost places will fill it for free.
- Snacks that survive a rucksackCheaper than the café, and buys you twenty minutes.
- Wet wipes
- Cool bag
- Waterproof jacket
- Sun hat
- Hair bobbles
- Reusable cutlery
- Small first aid kitPlasters solve more days out than anything else here.
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