These spectacular gorges stretching for more than 3km are the result of the chalk hills of Derbyshire being eroded by the River Dove, exposing cavities and rocky inclines in a landscape of cliffs. After the entrance to the gorges, between Thorpe Cloud (287m) and Bunster Hill (305m), the river snakes its way around the foot of the little rocky hills called Lovers' Leap, The Twelve Apostles and Ilam Rock.