High Force

High Force is a waterfall on the River Tees in Teesdale, North East England. It lies within the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and the European Geopark. The river plunges 21 metres over a near-vertical cliff in two stages. After heavy rain the right-hand channel also flows, creating twin falls. In December 2015 Storm Desmond sent water over the central rock for the first time since records began. In severe winters the falls can freeze into cathedral-like ice formations. High Force was formed where the Tees crosses the Whin Sill, a hard igneous layer also seen at Hadrian’s Wall. The upper band is whinstone, a tough rock that resists erosion. Below lies softer Carboniferous limestone, which wears away faster. Between them is a thin baked sandstone layer from the Whin Sill’s molten past. The waterfall is slowly moving upstream, carving a 700-metre gorge. Upstream the river is narrow; downstream it widens and meanders, carrying large boulders along its bed. Visitors reach the southern bank via the Pennine Way through the Moor House–Upper Teesdale National Nature Reserve. The northern bank is reached by a private footpath on the Raby estate for a fee. Turner sketched the scene in 1816 before riding upstream to Cauldron Snout. Arthur Young visited in 1771 and described the rainbow that appears when sunlight breaks through the spray. Stock footage of High Force appeared in the 1969 film Mackenna’s Gold and in Emmerdale in 2021.