In a landscape this uncompromising, the pub is not optional. It is the point.
The North York Moors strip things back. There is no softening the sky here. You cannot hedge the wind coming off the ridge. The moorland does not negotiate. You walk into it, and it does with you what it likes.
That is why the pub matters. Not a gastropub with amuse-bouche and a wine list on reclaimed wood. The proper pub. Stone walls have absorbed centuries. The fire is never just for show. Someone in the kitchen knows the farmer who raised the lamb.
These are seven of those places. Each one is exactly where it should be.
Quick Facts
- What this is: Seven old stone inns on and around the North York Moors, all serving honest food done well
- Best time to visit: October through March, when the moors are at their most serious, and the fires are lit by noon
- Booking: Most of these pubs require advance booking for food, especially on weekends. Be sure to telephone ahead to secure a table.
- Getting there: Many of these pubs are located at the end of narrow roads. Drive carefully, as sheep often cross these routes and have priority.
- Dogs: All seven welcome dogs, usually in the bar
1. The Lion Inn, Blakey Ridge
📍 lionblakey.co.uk
Credit: The Lion Inn,
There is no pub in England quite like this one for sheer isolation.
Situated at the highest point of the North York Moors National Park, it stands at 1,325 feet. It offers breathtaking views over the valleys of Rosedale and Farndale. Open fires burn in ancient stone fireplaces. The original low-beamed ceilings and stone walls add to the inn’s friendly, timeless atmosphere.
The building was finished between 1553 and 1558. It has been an inn for four centuries. It sits next to a road across the moors, between Castleton and Hutton-le-Hole. The landscape around it is ancient in all directions. Neolithic burial mounds mark the ridge. Roman finds came from nearby Farndale. The Crutched Friars likely built an oratory here under Edward III. Before that, travellers crossed this ridge as no other route existed.
During the ironstone industry boom in Rosedale, it catered mainly to miners. Later, it served as a coast-to-coast walkers’ route. It still does. This is a waypoint on one of Britain’s great long-distance walks. The walkers who push open the door after a day on the ridge look exactly as you would expect. The bar serves them without fuss.
The menu runs through three dining rooms and the bar. It is available from noon until ten in the evening. Hearty is the right word. Black Sheep Ales, Theakston Old Peculier, and a changing list of guests are offered. In December 2010, two customers and five staff were snowed in for eight days. Drifts reached up to 20 feet against the walls. That is not a hardship story. That is a pub doing its job.
- 🏡 Where to Stay: The Lion Inn, 13 letting rooms on site, including a honeymoon suite. Three candlelit dining rooms. The only building for miles in any direction.
- 🕰️ Worth Knowing: The Lion Inn’s car park is a recognised dark sky site. On clear winter nights, stargazing is excellent. Visitors should bring a warm coat for sub-zero temperatures.
2. The Blacksmiths Arms, Lastingham
📍 blacksmithslastingham.com
Credit: The Blacksmiths Arms
Lastingham is the kind of village that makes you wonder why you live elsewhere. It is a conservation area with exceptional architecture. A burbling beck runs through. Dry stone walls line the way. At its centre stands a church with one of the finest Saxon crypts in England. The church was built in the 11th century on the site of a seventh-century monastery.
Opposite the church stands a 17th-century pub, first built as cottages. Historic features are intact: low beams, pewter tankards, and a York range in the bar, set about with copper pans.
The food is what brings people back. Chef-owner and local lad Alistair Moran was born and raised down the road in Hartoft. After taking the reins in 2021, he maintained strong links with the local producers that his predecessor established. Belted Galloway beef comes from the Strickland family in Hutton le Hole. Game comes from nearby shoots. Even the gin is from Raisthorpe Manor in the Yorkshire Wolds. The menu bristles with belly pork, duck breast, and a pheasant-and-thyme ballotine. The oft-changing specials board might feature whipped Rosedale goat cheese, partridge-and-parmesan goujons, and a rabbit samosa.
Despite the ambitious kitchen, the atmosphere is unpretentious. Walkers with muddy boots are welcome at the bar. The fire is always lit, and ales are local and well-kept.
- 🏡 Where to Stay: The Blacksmiths Arms, three rooms upstairs, each named after moorland birds and fitted with good linen and Molton Brown toiletries. Breakfast included. Book well ahead.
- 🕰️ Worth Knowing: St Mary’s Church in Lastingham has one of the most atmospheric Norman crypts in the north of England. It is open most days, free to enter, and takes about five minutes to walk to from your table.
3. The Moors Inn, Appleton-le-Moors
📍 moorsinn.co.uk
Credit: The Moors Inn
The Moors Inn has traded as an inn since the 17th century in the beautiful village of Appleton-le-Moors. The inn has a cosy bar area with an open fire, a main dining room, and a newly refurbished snug. It was known as the Oddfellows Arms from 1842 before being renamed in the 1980s. The new landlady reportedly chose the change because she was already married to an odd fellow. Working in a pub called Oddfellows was one thing too many.
The food is the draw. The chefs are passionate about high-quality homemade food. They support local suppliers and producers in Yorkshire. This includes fresh east coast fish, pheasant and hare in season from the surrounding moorland, free-range eggs, and local allotment fruit and vegetables.
The bar has an open-range fire and the kind of interior that has gathered character since the 1780s. Horse brasses and bridles line the walls. There is a changing selection of Yorkshire ales on tap. The village itself is an almost perfectly preserved moorland settlement. The houses and gardens show quiet order that suggests people have been getting on with things here for a very long time. If you ring ahead for a weekend, ring well ahead.
- 🏡 Where to Stay: the Moors Inn, eight en-suite rooms await, some above the pub, others in converted barns at the rear. Prices start from £120 per night, including breakfast.
- 🕰️ Worth Knowing: The walk between Appleton-le-Moors and Lastingham takes about forty minutes along the moorland edge and can be done in either direction. Two of the pubs on this list are on an excellent walk.
4. The Fox and Rabbit Inn, Lockton
📍 foxandrabbit.co.uk
Credit: The Fox and Rabbit Inn
The Fox and Rabbit Inn is a traditional country pub in the North York Moors National Park on the edge of Dalby Forest. It was initially called Keld House, after Thomas Keld, a Scarborough surgeon from the 1780s. Keld combined plots of land and built a farmhouse. In 1788, Keld House was advertised to let. It was said to be well situated for an inn.
It has been an inn ever since. Since 2004, brothers Charles and Toby Wood have run it. They have built it into one of the best food pubs in the national park. The kitchen sources carefully from local suppliers. The menu includes a venison burger with red onion marmalade and Yorkshire blue cheese, homemade steak and ale pie, pan-fried lamb’s liver on parsley mash with bacon and red onion gravy, and Whitby scampi with homemade chips. It is exactly the kind of menu a proper moorland pub should serve. It is cooked properly.
The pub sits in a long, low stone building on the A169 Whitby to Pickering road. It looks across open moorland. Views from the front are wide. Ales are from Theakston’s, Great Yorkshire Brewery, and Timothy Taylor. The Horseshoe Inn at Levisham is the sister pub. It is a short drive down into the valley. The Levisham stop on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway is nearby.
- 🏡 Where to Stay: The Fox and Rabbit Inn has 9 bed-and-breakfast rooms, including 2 garden rooms. Self-catering options are available nearby at Levisham and Thornton-le-Dale.
- 🕰️ Worth Knowing: Dalby Forest, directly behind the pub, has some of the best mountain bike trails in the north of England. The pub has a secure bike area. The kitchen opens at noon for those who have earned their lunch.
5. The Royal Oak, Gillamoor
📍 theroyaloakgillamoor.co.uk
Credit: The Royal Oak
Gillamoor is a village just above the Dove Valley. It sits on the southern edge of the moors, between Kirkbymoorside and the high ground. The view from St Aidan’s Church, at the end of the village, is one of North Yorkshire’s finest quiet views.
The Royal Oak Inn dates to the mid-17th century. It is in the peaceful village of Gillamoor, set within the North York Moors National Park. The inn is a Grade II-listed building of traditional style, featuring an oak-beamed bar with two open log fires.
The kitchen works with local producers and changes the menu to reflect what is available. The approach is unfussy. Portions are generous. The Sunday roast is what people drive from considerable distances for. The bar, complete with roaring fire, offers a wide selection of beverages, including fine local cask ales. Walkers and cyclists are welcome. Dogs are welcome in the snug area.
Twelve en-suite rooms make this a smart base for a visit. You are close to Rievaulx Abbey, Nunnington Hall, Helmsley, Pickering, and the steam railway.
- 🏡 Where to Stay: The Royal Oak, Gillamoor, has twelve en-suite rooms. Three are dog-friendly. Breakfast uses locally sourced produce and is consistently praised. Advance booking is recommended for both food and rooms.
- 🕰️ Worth Knowing: The village of Hutton-le-Hole, with its famous folk museum and the sheep that roam the village green, is a ten-minute drive away. Go on a weekday if you can. It is a different place without the car parks full.
6. The Feversham Arms, Church Houses, Farndale
📍 fevershamarmsinn.co.uk
Credit: The Feversham Arms
Farndale is known for one thing above all others: in spring, the river banks along the Dove fill with wild daffodils, hundreds of thousands of them, a spectacle that draws walkers from across Yorkshire. The Feversham Arms sits at the northern end of this valley, in the tiny hamlet of Church Houses, with a beer garden looking out over the dale.
This property was originally built as an inn to serve the Feversham Estate about 1836. It continues to operate as a traditional Yorkshire inn serving locally sourced food, Yorkshire ales and accommodation throughout the year.
There is a large Yorkshire stone-flagged bar and snug with open fires in the winter months, ideal for weary walkers with dogs, motorcyclists, car clubs and 4×4 off-roaders. The inn serves traditional home-cooked fare made with fresh, locally sourced ingredients wherever possible. Meat comes from Horners of Kilburn. Fresh fruit and vegetables from Taylors of Pickering. Fish from the North Sea. The menu is not complicated. It does not need to be.
On a shelf in the bar sits the ship’s bell from HMS Farndale, still bearing the marks of enemy fire. That is the kind of detail this place holds onto without making a fuss.
- 🏡 Where to Stay: Feversham Arms Inn — three comfortable double en-suite rooms and a self-catering cottage for two. The inn offers a pick-up and return service for Coast to Coast walkers arriving at Blakey Ridge, with prior notice.
- 🕰️ Worth Knowing: The daffodil walk along the Dove is best from mid-March to mid-April, weather dependent. Visit on a weekday. At weekends in peak season, the valley road becomes a slow procession of cars, and the point of it is somewhat lost.
7. The Arncliffe Arms, Glaisdale
📍 arncliffearmsbb.co.uk
Credit: The Arncliffe Arms
Glaisdale sits in the Esk Valley in the eastern moors, eight miles west of Whitby on the edge of the Coast to Coast route. It is the kind of village that most people pass through on their way somewhere else, so most miss it entirely.
The pub has a long history, dating back to the early 19th century, when it was a coaching inn, providing accommodation and refreshments for travellers passing through the area. Built in 1865, the Arncliffe Arms has always been a traditional village pub serving good beer and good food and providing comfortable bed-and-breakfast accommodation. All food is locally sourced and freshly cooked to order, with fresh Whitby fish and scampi, locally farmed meat, and homemade dishes throughout.
The pub sits on the Coast to Coast path, and the walkers who stop here are often at the end of a very long day. They are looked after properly. The Sunday lunches are served all day. The six rooms are straightforward and comfortable. A short walk from the pub, Beggar’s Bridge crosses the River Esk, a packhorse bridge with a story attached to it that the locals will tell you if you ask.
- 🏡 Where to Stay: The Arncliffe Arms — six en-suite rooms overlooking the countryside, from a double to a triple. Wild camping in the field behind the pub is also possible by arrangement. Dog-friendly throughout.
- 🕰️ Worth Knowing: Beggar’s Bridge was built in 1619 by Thomas Ferris, a local man who had left the village in poverty and returned wealthy after years at sea. The story involves a girl he could not reach across the flooded river when he left, and a promise to return. He kept it.
Practical Tips
- Booking is not optional. Most of these pubs require advance booking for food, especially on Friday to Sunday. Ring a week ahead at minimum, more during peak walking season.
- Parking. Almost all have car parks or village parking nearby. The Lion Inn has a large car park on the ridge. On walking routes, many visitors leave one car at the destination and one at the start.
- The ales. Black Sheep, Theakston’s, Timothy Taylor’s Landlord, Great Yorkshire Brewery, Helmsley Brewery. These names will appear on taps throughout. All are worth trying. Old Peculier at the Lion Inn on a cold evening is exactly what it sounds like.
- The road to Farndale. The road into the valley leading to the Feversham Arms is single-track in places and can be difficult in winter. The pub will advise on conditions if you ring ahead.
Responsible Visiting
These pubs are the centre of small communities. When you eat there, you are helping them stay open. The walkers and visitors who pass through are a significant part of what keeps a moorland village pub viable through the quieter months.
Book ahead and keep your booking. Pay for your parking. Do not leave gates open. Walk on the paths. And when the food arrives, do not be surprised by the portion size. This is Yorkshire.
Reader Q&A
Which is the most remote?
The Lion Inn at Blakey Ridge, without question. In heavy snow, it has been cut off entirely. That is part of its appeal.
Which is best for a special occasion?
The Blacksmith’s Arms at Lastingham. The food is the most considered on this list, and the rooms are the most carefully fitted. Ring ahead and ask about the private dining room.
Which has the best views?
The Lion Inn from the car park, looking over Rosedale and Farndale. The Feversham Arms beer garden overlooks the Farndale valley. The Royal Oak at Gillamoor from the churchyard at the end of the village street.
Can you walk between any of these?
The Moors Inn and the Blacksmiths Arms are a forty-minute walk apart. The Lion Inn and the Feversham Arms are both accessible from the Coast to Coast and the Lyke Wake Walk. The Arncliffe Arms is directly on the Coast to Coast path.
Where to Stay
- The Lion Inn, Blakey Ridge
- The Blacksmiths Arms, Lastingham
- The Moors Inn, Appleton-le-Moors
- The Fox and Rabbit Inn, Lockton
- The Royal Oak, Gillamoor
- The Feversham Arms, Church Houses, Farndale
- The Arncliffe Arms, Glaisdale
The North York Moors will take what it wants from you. The wind, the miles, the certainty that you know where you are going. When it has taken enough, find one of these places, pull the door closed behind you, and sit down. The food will come. The fire will be there. Outside, the moor will carry on without you. That is exactly as it should be.
