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The Yorkshire Wolds are an area of low hills and valleys in the East Riding of Yorkshire in North-Eastern England. They are formed from chalk, and make an arc from the Humber estuary west of Kingston-upon-Hull up to the North Sea coast between Bridlington and Scarborough. Here they rise up to form cliffs, most notably at Flamborough, Bempton Cliffs and Filey; Flamborough Headland is designated a Heritage Coast. On the other side of the Humber, the chalk formations continue as the Lincolnshire Wolds; in fact, one can view the Humber as cutting through a single formation. The Humber Bridge was built at the point due to its geological stability.
Most of the area takes the form of an elevated, gently rolling plateau, cut by numerous deep, steep-sided, flat-bottomed valleys of glacial origin. The chalk formation of the hills provides exceptionally good drainage, with the result that most of these valleys are dry; indeed, surface water is quite scarce throughout the Wolds. Typically the valleys are hard to see from above,
creating the visual impression that the landscape is much flatter than is actually the case. The unusual topography results in an "upside-down" farming system - livestock (mostly sheep and cows) graze the valleys, with the hills above used for crops.
On the western edge the Wolds rise to an escarpment which then drops sharply to the Vale of York. The highest point of this is 246 metres above sea level at Garrowby Hill, 8 km north of the town of Pocklington. To the north are the North York Moors, and to the east the hills flatten into the plain of Holderness.
The largest town in the Wolds is Driffield, with other places including Pocklington and Thixendale.
One of nine National Trails in England, the Wolds Way is a long-distance footpath which runs the length of the wolds from the Humber Bridge at Hessle to Filey on the coast. It is managed by the Countryside Commission.
The writer Winifred Holtby described the Wolds as "fold upon fold of the encircling hills, piled rich and golden."
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