High Force
High Force is one of the biggest waterfalls in England and is popular by tourists. High Force is located near Middleton-in-Teesdale in Yorkshire Dales national park, England. Force is diverted from the Norwegian word foss which means waterfall.
From Middleton-in-Teesdale it is a short drive northwest over road B6277 to a big white hotel called “High Force hotel”. You can’t miss it. Signs are pointing to the big parking where you have to pay a parking fee. There is a cafe at the parking where you also have to pay for the ticket to the High Force park. Admission (summer 2013) was £3 p/p.
From the parking there are signs to a path that leads you along the river Tees to the waterfall High Force (short walk, 10-15 minutes, 650 meter). The first views, from the path are magnificent and I can spend hours watching the river Tees dropping down with great force. This is why the waterfall is called High Force! The flow is quite consistent but after heavy rainfall the amount of water that is trying to squeeze itself through the narrow gorge is enormous.
From the viewpoint at the path you can walk a little down to the river where you also have tremendous views. A perfect spot for some selfies.
It is also possible to walk to the top of High Force and make a roundtrip walk. When we visited the waterfall we had limited time because the park is only open from 10 am to 4pm. For more information about the walks at High Force, watch this map.
High Force drops down 22 meter over two stages. After heavy rainfall you can see a second waterfall at the right side of High Force. When we visited the High force waterfall, July 2013, it had rained much and the waterfall was extremely powerful. High force belongs to the most powerful waterfalls in the UK and most of the time the flowrate of the river Tees is quite respectable. After storm Desmond in 2015 the flow rate of the river Tees at High Force waterfall exceeded a maximum level. You can check the current flow rate of the river Tees at the website of riverlevels.uk.
Downstream you will find the smaller brother of High Force called Low Force. From here a hike can be made over the south bank of the river Tees (free of charge).
Further south you can visit two waterfall top attractions: Aysgarth falls and the amazing Ingleton waterfalls (a must to visit) at Ingleton.
