Kingsdale is a short narrow dale, that measures 5.5 miles (8.9 km) from Thornton-in-Lonsdale in the south, to High Moss in the north.

[7][8] More permanent occupancy of the dale occurred during the Bronze Age, with sooty mounds found in Kingsdale dating back to 1500 BC.

"[11] The larger part of the valley lies within the county of North Yorkshire but its highest reaches fall just within Cumbria.

[14] The ledge at the top of the waterfall of Thornton Force is made up of the Great Scar Limestone, the middle is cobbles from a sea of the Carboniferous period (350 million years ago), and the lower part, where the basin is, is composed of Ordovician slate which dates back 530 million years.

[17] The single minor public road which serves the valley is an old packhorse route that connected Ingleton with Deepdale, then Dentdale, and which also forms the NCR 68 and the Yorkshire Dales Cycle Way.