The River Ribble springs from the limestone of the Yorkshire Dales, high on Cam Fell in the heart of Three Peak country. The 70 1/2-mile (113km) Ribble Way is described in seven stages, the route alternating from one side of the valley to the other, generally making use of road bridges to cross the river. Initially forcing a passage between high, rugged moorland hills, it then breaks free to wind through gentler countryside south of Settle, meandering lazily through alternating pasture and ancient woodland, where old manor houses and early 18th-century village cottages still hold sway against the pervasive tide of modernity. Beyond Preston, the river dramatically changes yet again, trained to run straight to the Irish Sea, but further to the west, a vast expanse of the salt marsh still remains and attracts huge populations of birds particularly in winter.