Searching for rock art on a pleasant Ilkley Moor loop

England, UK, Yorkshire and the Humber

Summary: A full-day loop hike that explores many of the Stone Age rock art sites and rock formations of Ilkley Moor in Yorkshire, as well as Rombalds Moor Trig.

Trailhead: The Cow and Calf pub / Cow and Calf carpark
Public transport options: Train
15min from Ilkley station (Northern Line)
Distance: 18.5km
Duration: Full Day
Grade: Easy
490m total ascent
Route type: Loop
Best season/s: All year
Topographic map/s: OS Explorer Map 297 LOWER WHARFDALE & WASHBURN VALLEY - Buy
Online map: https://www.alltrails.com/explore/map/ikley-moor-loop-932d626
Dogs Allowed
Mountain bikes partly allowed

This loop around Ilkley Moor (which forms part of Rombalds Moor, a moorland between Ilkley and Keighley in West Yorkshire) is not the most exciting hike as far as scenery goes… but it was designed to visit a number of rock art sites – and a trig station. My loop hike starts at The Cow & Calf pub, a convenient spot both to leave my car and to enjoy a post-hike meal. Two of the many trails that criss-cross Ilkley Moor start on the opposite side of the road to the Cow & Calf.

IMG 9253 LR Searching for rock art on a pleasant Ilkley Moor loop

IMG 9255 LR Searching for rock art on a pleasant Ilkley Moor loop

A rich area for wildlife, much of Ilkley Moor is covered by heather (with Ling being the most common species), bracken and lots of Lemon-scented Fern. (The moor is a Site of Special Scientific Interest due to its upland habitat for ground-nesting birds.)

IMG 9256 LR Searching for rock art on a pleasant Ilkley Moor loop

IMG 9269 LR Searching for rock art on a pleasant Ilkley Moor loop

There are nice views over the Cow & Calf pub and the main Ilkley Moor carpark from a small rock outcrop along Pancake Ridge just off the trail.

A narrower trail continues to ascend towards The Haystack, the first rock art site I visit.

IMG 9274 LR Searching for rock art on a pleasant Ilkley Moor loop

IMG 9276 LR Searching for rock art on a pleasant Ilkley Moor loop

A bit further up the slope is the Idol Stone, a Cup and Groove marked rock, and beyond it the pyramidal-shaped Idol Rock.

IMG 9293 LR Searching for rock art on a pleasant Ilkley Moor loop

IMG 9297 LR Searching for rock art on a pleasant Ilkley Moor loop

I now head west across Ilkley Moor, passing a (virtual) line marked by a series of yellow posts which mark some unknown boundary.

IMG 9301 LR Searching for rock art on a pleasant Ilkley Moor loop

IMG 9304 LR Searching for rock art on a pleasant Ilkley Moor loop

Next stop is the Backstone Beck Stones, which are near Backstone Beck Enclosure – a curved low rubble wall (restored by the Ilkley Archaeology Group in 1982-87) thought to date back to around 3000BC during the Neolithic age and hut circles that date from the late Bronze Age to early Iron Age (800BC to 500BC).

IMG 9318 LR Searching for rock art on a pleasant Ilkley Moor loop

Although I’m continuing west across Ilkley Moor, I need to descend a little to cross Backstone Beck (“beck” means stream), before ascending again.

IMG 9322 LR Searching for rock art on a pleasant Ilkley Moor loop

IMG 9326 LR Searching for rock art on a pleasant Ilkley Moor loop

Almost directly west of the Backstone Beck Enclosure is the Backstone Circle, which is described as “a bit of a mystery”. The circle of stones may be a fake, although it was referenced over 150 years ago and many local experts are convinced that the site is indeed genuine. As well as a rough circle of stones, there is a more recent stone enclosure.

There was still a rude circle of rocks on the reach beyond White Wells fifty years ago, tumbled into such confusion that you had to look once, and again, before you saw what lay under your eyes.
Robert Collyer and J.H. Turner’s Ilkley, Ancient and Modern (1885)

IMG 9330 LR Searching for rock art on a pleasant Ilkley Moor loop

IMG 9334 LR Searching for rock art on a pleasant Ilkley Moor loop

I’m soon on the The Millennium Way, 45 mile circular walk through West Yorkshire created in 2000 which traverses Ilkley Moor.

IMG 9338 LR Searching for rock art on a pleasant Ilkley Moor loop

IMG 9342 LR Searching for rock art on a pleasant Ilkley Moor loop

There are more trails than you can poke a stick at which cross the moor, so I soon find a minor trail that’s going in the right direction and is a bit more interesting that the paved Millennium Way.

IMG 9343 LR Searching for rock art on a pleasant Ilkley Moor loop

IMG 9350 LR Searching for rock art on a pleasant Ilkley Moor loop

My little trail soon re-joins the Millennium Way, which ascends gently up to Rombalds Moor Trig – the highest point on Ilkley Moor.

IMG 9353 LR Searching for rock art on a pleasant Ilkley Moor loop

IMG 9357 LR Searching for rock art on a pleasant Ilkley Moor loop

The paved trail continues along moor, passing a few boulders and a radio antenna, before reaching the western-most point of my Ilkley Moor loop.

IMG 9364 LR Searching for rock art on a pleasant Ilkley Moor loop

IMG 9377 LR Searching for rock art on a pleasant Ilkley Moor loop

The East Buck Stones and West Buck Stones (also known as Moon Altar) are two sets of interesting rock formations along the track. (It’s hard to find a boulder that hasn’t been given a name!)

IMG 9380 LR Searching for rock art on a pleasant Ilkley Moor loop

IMG 9381 LR Searching for rock art on a pleasant Ilkley Moor loop

Another nearby boulder has a trig marker near its base – a somewhat unusual spot.

IMG 9382 LR Searching for rock art on a pleasant Ilkley Moor loop

IMG 9384 LR Searching for rock art on a pleasant Ilkley Moor loop

I’m now on starting the return leg of my loop hike, as a I follow a somewhat faint path towards the east through grassland.

IMG 9387 LR Searching for rock art on a pleasant Ilkley Moor loop

IMG 9389 LR Searching for rock art on a pleasant Ilkley Moor loop

After about half a mile I pick up another equally indistinct trail to the left, that starts to descend, with the grassland becoming thick ferns. (While you don’t really need to follow a trail, the risk if you go off-track is you end up with very wet feet… even my indistinct track had ocassional piles of stones where the ground was boggy or where there was a small stream.)

IMG 9392 LR Searching for rock art on a pleasant Ilkley Moor loop

IMG 9397 LR Searching for rock art on a pleasant Ilkley Moor loop

IMG 9395 LR Searching for rock art on a pleasant Ilkley Moor loop

My next destination is perhaps one of the best-known rock art sites of Ilkley Moor – and the only one with a protective enclosure. The Swastika Stone is an unusual figure which resembles a swastika, within the arms of which is an array of nine cups.

IMG 9413 LR Searching for rock art on a pleasant Ilkley Moor loop

From here I descend Ilkley Moor towards Black Beck (a stream). One of my maps suggests there is a waterfall here (Hebers Ghyll Waterfall), but with the stream barely running I pass over the Black Beck on a timber bridge and bypass the base of the almost-dry waterfall.

IMG 9417 LR Searching for rock art on a pleasant Ilkley Moor loop

IMG 9421 LR Searching for rock art on a pleasant Ilkley Moor loop

IMG 9420 LR Searching for rock art on a pleasant Ilkley Moor loop

I head back up Ilkley Moor, with my route transitioning from a wide gravel path to narrow walking track, and finally a bush-bash through shoulder-height ferns for the last few hundred metres.

IMG 9429 LR Searching for rock art on a pleasant Ilkley Moor loop

IMG 9433 LR Searching for rock art on a pleasant Ilkley Moor loop

My destination is the prominent Neb Stone, which is a little underwhelming as a rock art site – but offers some great views over Ilkley Moor and the town of Ilkley.

I’m soon on Keighley Road – one of the main Ilkley Moor access roads that turns into a 4WD track about halfway up the moor – as I search for the next two rock art sites (Weary Hill and Graining’s Head).

IMG 9448 LR Searching for rock art on a pleasant Ilkley Moor loop

IMG 9449 LR Searching for rock art on a pleasant Ilkley Moor loop

I continue my journey eastwards across Ilkley Moor on the return leg of my loop taking one of the many minor trails which crosses a small gully and Spicey Gill (a small stream that flows down Ilkley Moor into Ilkley).

IMG 9490 LR Searching for rock art on a pleasant Ilkley Moor loop

IMG 9492 LR Searching for rock art on a pleasant Ilkley Moor loop

Many trails – including the one I’ve taken from Keighley Road – converge on the prominent and impressive Badger Stone, which has over 110 figures (including 95 Cup motifs).

A bit further east in the Green Gates area of Ilkley Moor are two more interesting rock art sites; the Pitchfork Stone and Green Gates 06.

IMG 9527 LR Searching for rock art on a pleasant Ilkley Moor loop

With dark clouds looming, I descend a little to another well-known carving on the moor.

IMG 9530 LR Searching for rock art on a pleasant Ilkley Moor loop

A short detour off the trail and through thick heather takes me to the intriguing Barmishaw Stone, which has an unusual “ladder” motif. I then cross an almost-dry stream and dip into the top of Willy Hall’s Wood which is below Green Gates to look at Willy Hall’s Wood Stone, a large boulder covered in almost 50 cup marks. Out to the north is a nice view over Ilkley.

IMG 9563 LR Searching for rock art on a pleasant Ilkley Moor loop

IMG 9589 LR Searching for rock art on a pleasant Ilkley Moor loop

The trail climbs a little as it continues traversing Ilkley Moor towards the east.

IMG 9603 LR Searching for rock art on a pleasant Ilkley Moor loop

IMG 9607 LR Searching for rock art on a pleasant Ilkley Moor loop

The landscape is fairly “tame” with mostly rolling green hills, but as I near the end of my loop I reach the famous Ilkley Moor Cow & Calf Rocks, also known as Hangingstone Rocks. When viewed from the north, the large rock formation (consisting of an outcrop and boulder) looks like a cow and calf.

According to legend, the Calf was split from the Cow when the giant Rombald was fleeing an enemy and stamped on the rock as he leapt across the valley. The enemy, it is said, was his angry wife. She dropped the stones held in her skirt to form the local rock formation The Skirtful of Stones.

IMG 9614 LR Searching for rock art on a pleasant Ilkley Moor loop

IMG 9617 LR Searching for rock art on a pleasant Ilkley Moor loop

From this viewpoint over Cow & Calf Rocks, it’s only about 500m to complete my Ilkley Moor loop at the Cow and Calf pub.

IMG 9618 LR Searching for rock art on a pleasant Ilkley Moor loop

IMG 9619 LR Searching for rock art on a pleasant Ilkley Moor loop

This is not a walk I’d really recommend for the scenery alone; a much shorter circuit around the Cow and Calf Rocks and Willy’s Hall Wood would cover the same variety of landscapes. But if you’re looking for rock art, this loop is a full day hike – and you could add many more sites along this loop if you start early.

Getting to Ilkley Moor

There are many access points to Ilkley Moor; this loop starts from The Cow and Calf pub on Hangingstone Road, or you could also start from the nearby Cow and Calf carpark (free). Both trailheads are about 1.6 miles / 2.6km (5min drive) from the town of Ilkey. You can also walk from Ilkley railway station, which is on the Northern Line with services to Leeds and Bradford (30min).