Exploring Brimham Rocks

Visitors walking round idol rocks with their two dogs on an autumnal day — Explore the natural wonder of Brimham Rocks in North Yorkshire | © National Trust Images/Paul Harris

From rocks to moorland, Brimham offers a whole host of different features for visitors, as well as being a unique habitat to varied plants and animals. Here are a few highlights and what not to miss on your first, second or thousandth visit.

Brimham Rocks provide a wonderful place for an adventure for all the family but please explore safely

The rocks and paths can become slippery when wet. Always keep a close eye on children, there are sudden drops and steep slopes across the site. If you need assistance, please call the emergency services (999) and ask for mountain rescue.

One of the best ways to explore Brimham Rocks is on a guided walk of the site.

Discover the rocks

Idol

Looking at the pedestal of the Idol you can see the natural erosion of the softer rock beneath the balancing harder stone. Although it appears to be several rocks, it is in fact all one structure. Heavy grains of sand and ice would have been sand blasted during high winds, causing more erosion closer to the ground.

Close up of rock formations at Brimham Rocks — Rock formations at Brimham Rocks | © National Trust Images/John Millar

Smartie Tube

Many holes, tubes and tunnels can be seen in the rocks but the Smartie Tube is the most famous. There are several theories about how these holes formed. One is that ancient trees, such as giant ferns died and fell over. The trunks were then surrounded by sediment that later turned to rock. The trunks then rotted away, leaving the holes.

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Wildlife at Brimham Rocks

The heather moorland at Brimham Rocks is a unique habitat, home to a variety of plants and offers shelter to numerous insects and ground nesting birds. Discover what you may come across on a stroll across the moor.

Heather moorland is internationally important because it is rare worldwide and is mostly found in northern Britain. Moorland is a patchwork of dwarf shrubs such as heather and bilberry. It is an open landscape into which we don’t want to introduce shade and must remove trees.

Moorland is a semi-natural habitat created by the removal of woodland by humans thousands of years ago.

Heather at Brimham Rocks

Although the titular rocks are the reason many visit, Brimham Rocks also features a beautiful area of heather moorland. It is classified as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) due to its globally significant plant life. Three types of heather make up the moorland at Brimham Rocks:

Sprigs of pale purple Ling heather on Lundy Island — Ling heather | © National Trust Images/Nick Upton

Common heather (ling)

Common heather (Calluna vulgaris) flowers from August onwards and is the most common type of heather found at Brimham Rocks. It is often referred to as ling, a name that comes from the Anglo-Saxon word for fire – 'lig'. This reflects that historically it was used for fuel to build fires. Other uses include broom making, basket making and as a flavouring in beer. The leaves are so small and close to the stem that they almost look like scales overlapping one another. The tiny flowers are pale purple and it is possible to tell the petals apart upon close inspection.

Bell heather

Bell heather flowers from June onwards. It is a much deeper shade of purple than the ling and the petals are joined most of the way down forming a tube containing the stamen. This has been likened to a bell and is where the plant gets its name. The leaves of this plant are much bigger than ling (although still tiny) and are bunched in whorls up the stem. This species of heather prefers the drier parts of heath and moorland and so is good to aim for if you want to keep your feet dry.

Cross-leaved heather

Cross-leaved heather also flowers from June onwards. This is the least common heather at Brimham Rocks. The flowers are a paler purple – almost pink – but the shades can vary across individuals. The leaves are in whorls of four up the stem, forming a cross shape if viewed from the top down, this is where the plant gets its name. This species likes its feet wet and so is found in the wetter parts of the site.

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Visitor centre

This was known as Brimham House, a late-18th-century building constructed for ‘the accommodation of strangers’. Currently it houses a photographic exhibition about the social and geological history of Brimham along with a short video showing how the ranger team manages the moorland.

Brimham bonus: Check out the area behind Brimham House. It’s often missed by visitors and some of the best rocks can be found there.