II.

Land and Resources

In the east, high plateaux of gritstones and shales form part of the Pennine Hills, the highest points being Wards Stone at 560 m (1,836 ft), Pendle Hill at 558 m (1,831 ft), and Fair Snape at 518 m (1,701 ft). In the north, the Forest of Bowland presents rounded hills separated by the valleys of the rivers, with some outcrops in the form of limestone hillocks and gritstone crags. The land to the west and south is generally low, mostly based on marls, and the coast, especially in Morecambe Bay and at the Ribble estuary, is very flat. The Ribble Way, a footpath that follows the Ribble valley, enters the county just north of Gisburn, and runs through to Preston and the Ribble estuary.

Virtually the whole coast is sandy, and is studded with holiday resorts from Lytham St Anne's in the south to Silverdale in the north. Arnside and Silverdale, including part of Morecambe Bay and the estuary of the River Kent, and the Forest of Bowland have both been designated by the Countryside Agency as Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The Forest of Bowland presents moorlands, woods, river valleys with waterfalls, and views that can be wild, charming, or spectacular.

The principal river is the Ribble, which rises in the Pennines and flows into the Irish Sea at Preston. It used to divide the county almost in half, but is now near to the southern border. The Wyre and the Lune are the main rivers north of the Ribble, the former having its mouth at Fleetwood, and the latter near Lancaster. The Leeds and Liverpool Canal enters the county just east of Nelson, and continues through Burnley and Blackburn before turning south towards Greater Manchester.

Annual average rainfall for the county rises from a range of 760 to 1,000 mm (30 to 40 in) on the coast to as high as 1,520 to 2,540 mm (60 to 100 in) inland.