One of England’s largest heather expanses. Most visitors see a mile.
The North York Moors span 554 square miles, boasting the largest continuous stretch of heather moorland in England and Wales. The area features 1,400 miles of footpaths and 26 miles of coastline. Only a handful of walks appear on every list, in every guidebook, and on every walking website.
Most people do those walks: Roseberry Topping, the Cleveland Way near Sutton Bank, and the approach to Rievaulx Abbey. These popular walks are often busy. The surrounding moors remain empty.
The ten walks below follow deserted paths. They cross ancient ridges unchanged at sunset, drop into dales most visitors miss, and finish at pubs that reward the trek.
Quick Facts
Region: North York Moors National Park, North Yorkshire
Best for: Moorland walking, history, wildlife, solitude
Getting there: Esk Valley Railway serves Commondale, Danby, Glaisdale, and Egton Bridge; North Yorkshire Moors Railway serves Goathland and Levisham; Malton and Thirsk are the main road gateways from the south and west.
Time needed: Half a day to a full day per walk; a long weekend covers the range
1. BLAKEY RIDGE AND THE ROSEDALE IRONSTONE RAILWAY
Most walkers who reach Blakey Ridge do so as a staging post on the Coast to Coast or the Lyke Wake Walk. They stop at the Lion Inn and catch their breath, then move on. The ridge itself and the extraordinary industrial ghost that runs along its edge rarely get the attention they deserve.
The Rosedale Ironstone Railway, built in 1861, carried iron ore from Rosedale mines to Teesside ironworks. At its peak, the line transported over 500,000 tons of ore annually. It closed in 1929. The trackbed now forms a wide, level path tracing the eastern rim of Rosedale at 1,200 feet. Walking it, you see Farndale to the west and the valley to the east. Heather stretches flat and wide in all directions. On a clear August morning, with deep purple blooms and little wind, the ridge is nearly silent.
Begin at the Lion Inn car park. Follow the old trackbed south for as far as you wish. You can return the same way, or descend into the valley to create a loop. The full loop to Rosedale Abbey and back is about 10 miles and takes four to five hours. Walking on the trackbed is easy, while the valley descent is steeper.
Where to Stay: The Lion Inn sits at 1,325 feet on Blakey Ridge, a 16th-century free house with rooms overlooking Rosedale and Farndale. One of the most isolated pubs in England.
Worth Knowing: At peak in the 1870s, the Rosedale Ironstone Railway moved ore from three ridge mines, with a rope-worked incline at Rosedale Bank Top that lowered wagons down a gradient too steep for locomotives.
2. FARNDALE AND THE RIVER DOVE
Most people who come to Farndale come in March and April, when the wild daffodils flower along the banks of the River Dove. Up to 40,000 visitors arrive during the short season. Very few come back in the summer. When the daffodils are long gone, the valley has reverted to a quietness that barely anyone shares.
The Farndale Local Nature Reserve was established in 1955 after decades of visitors arriving by bus and taking cut daffodils. The wild daffodil, Narcissus pseudonarcissus, is a native plant, smaller and paler than garden varieties. It is believed that the daffodil has grown in the valley since medieval times, possibly spread along the River Dove from monastic activity at Rievaulx Abbey, several miles to the south. The SSSI designation covers 390 acres of the valley floor.
Park at Low Mill and follow the riverside path north along the River Dove toward Church Houses. The walk is 3.5 miles one way. You’ll pass a cafe at High Mill around halfway, and find the Feversham Arms pub at Church Houses. In July, the valley is scented with meadow grass, and the river runs low and clear over limestone. For your return, either retrace your steps or follow the higher path back through farm fields above the valley for elevated views down into the dale.
Where to Stay: The Lion Inn on Blakey Ridge is the closest walking distance from the high moor above Farndale and the most atmospheric option in the area.
Worth Knowing: Until the 1950s, bus companies ran weekend excursions directly into Farndale during the daffodil season, with passengers returning home carrying bunches of picked flowers. The scale of picking prompted the SSSI designation, and the original warning notices with their £5 fine for picking daffodils still stand in the valley today.
3. DANBY RIGG AND THE STANDING STONES
Danby Rigg sits above the Esk Valley to the east of the moors. It is a broad moorland spur carrying one of the highest concentrations of prehistoric monuments in the north of England. It receives almost no visitors. The walk up from Danby is short. The ground is open. The reward is a ridge covered in Bronze Age cairns, earthworks, and standing stones. Views stretch north to the Cleveland Hills and south across Eskdale.
More than 800 cairns have been identified on Danby Rigg. The remains of a double dyke system stretch for over a kilometre across the ridge. The ridge was used for burial and ritual purposes over several thousand years. In late summer, the heather on the rigg flowers purple around the stones. The views across the valley hold a stillness that the busier western parts of the moor rarely offer.
Start at the Moors National Park Centre in Danby. Walk up the lane toward the ridge, then follow the open ridge path heading north and east. The circular walk, about 4 miles, passes the main monument sites and loops back through the village. The Esk Valley Railway stops in Danby, so this moorland walk is accessible even if you arrive by train rather than by car.
Where to Stay: The Duke of Wellington Inn in Danby is a traditional pub with rooms in the village below the rigg, on the Esk Valley Railway line.
Worth Knowing: More than 800 burial cairns have been recorded on Danby Rigg, making it one of the most significant concentrations of Bronze Age funerary monuments in northern England. Archaeological surveys have also identified the remains of a prehistoric double dyke system over a kilometre in length crossing the ridge.
4. HOLE OF HORCUM AND LEVISHAM MOOR
The Hole of Horcum is among the most dramatic features on the moors: a natural bowl 120 metres deep and 800 metres wide, beside the A169 above Pickering. Most people see it from a layby. The path into and around it is one of the best moorland circuits in the park and sees fewer walkers than you might expect, given how many people stop to look.
The hollow was carved by spring sapping. This is a process in which natural springs gradually erode the ground over thousands of years following the last ice age. It is attributed to the Devil or to a giant named Wade, who supposedly scooped out the earth and threw it a mile away to form Blakey Topping. The Horseshoe Inn at Levisham stands below the moor at the end of the descent from the rim.
Start from the layby on the A169. Follow the signed path down into the hollow, cross the floor, then climb to the opposite rim. Continue along the marked path across Levisham Moor toward the village, then follow the loop to return to your starting point. The complete walk is about 7 miles. In autumn, the moor above the hollow turns ochre and brown, and the air carries the clean smell of damp peat.
Where to Stay: The Horseshoe Inn in Levisham is a well-regarded village pub with rooms, sitting at the foot of the moor path.
Worth Knowing: The Hole of Horcum was shaped by spring sapping after the last ice age, a process in which groundwater gradually dissolved and undermined the moorland surface. The geological process that formed it is still visible in the spring lines on the valley floor below.
5. BRANSDALE AND COCKMILL WOOD
Bransdale is the least visited dale in the North York Moors. It has no through road from north to south. There is no railway station nearby. Almost no pedestrian traffic comes here. It lies between Farndale to the west and Bilsdale to the northwest. It is a narrow valley running up from the agricultural land around Helmsley into moorland that closes in quickly on both sides.
The valley holds a medieval chapel at Carlton and scattered, isolated farms. The quiet feels deliberate. The valley-floor path follows Hodge Beck through pasture and dry stone walls before the moor opens above. Cockmill Wood on the east holds bluebells in May. The canopy closes so tightly over the track that you hear the stream before seeing it.
Park near Carlton village. Follow the valley path north to the head of the dale. The circuit continues to the moor top before returning, covering about 8 miles and taking three to four hours. There is no pub in the valley, so bring food. The walk is best on a clear weekday, when you are likely to experience undisturbed solitude.
Where to Stay: The Feathers Hotel in Helmsley, eight miles south, is a comfortable base for Bransdale and the southern section of the moors.
Worth Knowing: Bransdale is not mentioned in the Domesday Book under its current name, though the valley was settled by Norse farmers in the 9th and 10th centuries. The name derives from Old Norse for the valley of Brand, a common personal name among Viking settlers in the North York Moors.
6. OSMOTHERLEY AND THE LYKE WAKE WALK
Osmotherley sits on the western edge of the moors where the Cleveland Hills drop toward the Vale of York. Most walkers pass through it as the starting point of the Lyke Wake Walk or a stage on the Cleveland Way. Very few walk the high moorland directly above the village, where the path crosses Black Hambleton and the view south and west opens across the plain.
The Lyke Wake Walk was devised in 1955 by farmer Bill Cowley as a 40-mile challenge crossing the highest and widest part of the moors from Osmotherley to Ravenscar in under 24 hours. The route follows ancient trackways that once carried the dead across the moors to burial grounds. The word lyke comes from the Old English lic, meaning corpse. The walk still attracts challenge walkers, but the first few miles out of Osmotherley, across the Cleveland Hills ridge, offer some of the best high-moorland walking in the park without any time pressure.
Start from Osmotherley village and climb the signed path to the Cleveland Way. Follow the escarpment north to Black Hambleton and return via the lower path through Cod Beck Reservoir. The circuit covers around 8 miles with 300 metres of ascent. In early September, the heather above the reservoir is flowering, and the late afternoon light across the plain below turns amber.
Where to Stay: The Golden Lion in Osmotherley is a well-regarded village pub with rooms at the start of the walk.
Worth Knowing: The Lyke Wake Walk was devised by farmer Bill Cowley in 1955 and first completed that same year. The name references the ancient Yorkshire tradition of the Lyke Wake Dirge, a song sung over the bodies of the dead as they were carried across the moors. The route follows trackways believed to have been used for exactly that purpose.
7. GOATHLAND AND MALLYAN SPOUT
Goathland is well known. The village has appeared in Heartbeat and as Hogsmeade station in the Harry Potter films, and the North Yorkshire Moors Railway stop here draws visitors who then walk the main street and leave. The moorland paths out of the village, and the waterfall that sits in a wooded gill just minutes from the centre, are almost always empty.
Mallyan Spout is a 21-metre waterfall on West Beck, one of the tallest single drops on the North York Moors. It requires a short scramble to reach the base, where the water falls in a thin curtain onto the stream below. The path from the Goathland Hotel follows the beck upstream through a narrow wooded ravine that is cool even in summer and loud with water after rain. In winter, sections of the fall can completely ice over.
Walk from the village centre to the footpath signed Mallyan Spout and follow West Beck upstream for around half a mile. From the fall, the path continues through the gorge and loops back across the open moor above to complete a 4-mile circuit. The moor walk back crosses ground where grouse drum in August and the air smells of bilberry and wet peat.
Where to Stay: The Goathland Hotel in the village is the filming location for the Aidensfield Arms in Heartbeat, with rooms and direct access to all the moorland paths.
Worth Knowing: Mallyan Spout, at 21 metres, is one of the tallest single-drop waterfalls in the North York Moors National Park. The name Mallyan derives from Old Norse, and the gill it flows through contains exposed Jurassic sandstone layers dating back approximately 175 million years.
8. SUTTON BANK AND THE KILBURN WHITE HORSE
Sutton Bank is on most North York Moors itineraries. What most people miss is the walk along the full escarpment south from the National Park visitor centre toward the Kilburn White Horse, where the ground opens onto views across the Vale of York that extend 50 miles on a clear day.
The Kilburn White Horse was cut into the hillside in 1857 by a local schoolteacher, John Hodgson, and his pupils, following the example of the chalk figures they had seen further south. The figure is 318 feet long and 228 feet wide, carved not into chalk but into the pale limestone that forms the escarpment here. It needs regular lime painting to remain visible. Below the escarpment, Gormire Lake sits in a hollow formed by a landslip at the end of the last ice age. It is one of only two natural lakes in Yorkshire and has no visible inlet or outlet.
Walk south from the Sutton Bank National Park Centre along the Cleveland Way and escarpment edge toward Hood Hill and the White Horse, returning through the woodland below. The full circuit covers 7 miles. The wind on the escarpment edge can be fierce in any season; it is one of the reasons the North Yorkshire Gliding Club has operated from here since 1930.
Where to Stay: The Hambleton Inn sits on the escarpment road above Sutton Bank with rooms and views across the plain.
Worth Knowing: Gormire Lake, visible from the Sutton Bank escarpment below the White Horse, is one of only two natural lakes in North Yorkshire. It was formed when a massive landslip at the end of the last ice age blocked the original valley drainage. The lake has no surface inlet or outlet; it is fed entirely by underground springs.
9. ROSEDALE ABBEY AND THE MINE WORKINGS
Rosedale Abbey village is peaceful. It has a pub, a tearoom, and the remnants of a 12th-century Cistercian priory reduced to a single turret by the Dissolution. In the hills above it are the ghostly remains of one of the most intense episodes of industrial extraction the North York Moors ever experienced.
Iron ore was discovered in the Rosedale hills in 1856, and within a decade, the dale had been transformed into a mining landscape of calcining kilns, shafts, spoil heaps, and railway sidings. At the industry’s height in the 1870s, over 5,000 people lived and worked in the dale. It collapsed in the 1920s, and the moor began to reclaim the ground. The calcining kilns on the eastern rim above Rosedale Bank Top are among the most intact industrial monuments in the National Park.
Walk from Rosedale Abbey up the steep lane to the old railway trackbed and follow it east toward the kilns. The circuit across the valley and back covers about 10 miles with significant elevation gain. In October, the bracken on the hillsides above the ruins turns rust red, and the kilns stand grey and roofless against it. Return via the valley floor path to the village.
Where to Stay: The Milburn Arms Hotel in Rosedale Abbey is a traditional moorland inn with rooms at the start of the walk.
Worth Knowing: At the height of iron ore production in the 1870s, more than 5,000 people lived in Rosedale, a valley that today has a population of around 200. The calcining kilns on the eastern rim, where iron ore was roasted to drive off impurities before transportation, remain standing and are listed as scheduled monuments.
10. THE WAINSTONES AND COLD MOOR
The Wainstones are the largest group of gritstone outcrops on the North York Moors, sitting on the ridge of Hasty Bank above the village of Chop Gate in Bilsdale. Most walkers come here as part of the Cleveland Way or a circular from Clay Bank Top. The approach from Chop Gate itself, which climbs through the farmland of the valley before reaching the open ridge, is quieter and shows you the transition from enclosed Dales pasture to exposed moor in a single walk.
The stone formations were used as landmarks and shelters by moorland travellers for centuries. The rocks are made of Jurassic sandstone laid down around 160 million years ago and shaped by glacial action and subsequent weathering into the castellated forms that make them visible from miles away. Urra Moor, which the path crosses beyond the Wainstones, is the highest point in the North York Moors National Park at 454 metres.
Start from Chop Gate and follow the signed path up through the valley and onto the ridge. From the Wainstones, continue southwest to Cold Moor and return via the lower path through the Bilsdale valley. The circuit covers 8 miles and takes three to four hours. In late August, the heather on Urra Moor is at its deepest purple, and the path follows the ridge with nothing but moorland on both sides.
Where to Stay: The Buck Inn in Chop Gate is a traditional Bilsdale pub at the foot of the walk with rooms and a straightforward menu.
Worth Knowing: Urra Moor, reached from the Wainstones ridge, is the highest point in the North York Moors National Park at 454 metres. The summit cairn sits above a series of Bronze Age round barrows that follow the ridgeline, part of a prehistoric ritual landscape that runs the full length of the Cleveland Hills.
Practical Tips
- The North Yorkshire Moors Railway runs between Pickering and Grosmont, with stops at Levisham and Goathland. Check timetables at nymr.co.uk before travelling as services are seasonal. The Esk Valley Railway links Middlesbrough to Whitby and stops at Danby, giving car-free access to the eastern moors.
- Blakey Ridge and Urra Moor are fully exposed walks with no shelter. Weather on the high moors changes quickly; carry waterproofs in any season.
- The Hole of Horcum and Rosedale circuits both involve significant ascent. Neither is technical, but both require good footwear. Trail shoes are the minimum; walking boots are better on the descent into the Hole of Horcum after wet weather.
- Grouse shooting takes place on Barden Moor and Barden Fell from 12 August to 14 December. The Valley of Desolation path above Goathland is not affected, but check closure notices at boltonabbey.com if combining walks.
- Use the AllTrails app for navigation on the Danby Rigg and Bransdale circuits, where the paths are less well signposted than on the popular Cleveland Way sections.
- Pub kitchens in the more remote parts of the moors often stop serving food early. The Lion Inn on Blakey Ridge is an exception, serving food from noon until 10pm.
Responsible Visiting
Stay on marked paths across the grouse moor, particularly around Danby Rigg and the Rosedale railway trackbed. Do not disturb the Bronze Age cairns on Blakey Ridge or Danby Rigg. In Farndale, the daffodil areas are marked by the National Park, and the original SSSI notices remain in place. The £5 fine for picking daffodils is still legally enforceable.
Reader Q&A
Which walk is best for a first visit to the North York Moors? The Hole of Horcum circuit from the A169 layby. It shows you the geological character of the moors, gives you a full circuit with good views, and the Horseshoe Inn at Levisham is there at the end. It takes about 3 hours at an easy pace and requires no special navigation.
When is the best time to visit Farndale? Mid-March to mid-April for the wild daffodils, which are the reason 40,000 people come each year. Late April through June for the bluebells and wild garlic that follow. Any weekday outside the daffodil season for genuine quiet. Avoid late March weekends entirely if crowds concern you.
Is the Blakey Ridge walk suitable for beginners? The Rosedale Ironstone Railway trackbed is as easy as moorland walking gets. It is level, wide, and well-surfaced for most of its length. The circuit that descends into Rosedale itself adds gradient and rougher ground. The trackbed alone, out and back, suits any fitness level.
Can I reach any of these walks by public transport? Danby is on the Esk Valley Railway, and the walk onto Danby Rigg begins directly from the village. Goathland is on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway. Osmotherley is served by limited bus services from Northallerton. Most of the high moor walks require a car or a taxi from Helmsley, Pickering, or Guisborough.
What is the heather season on the moors? Late July to mid-September, peaking in August. The colour varies by altitude and location. The heather on Urra Moor and Blakey Ridge typically peaks in the first two weeks of August. Lower moorland areas, like the slopes above Farndale, flower slightly later. A dry summer produces the best colour.
Is Bransdale really that quiet? Yes. It has no through road and no facilities in the valley apart from a few farms. On a Tuesday in October, you are unlikely to see another walker. That is the point of going.
Where to Stay
The Lion Inn, Blakey Ridge. A 16th-century moorland free house at 1,325 feet, with rooms overlooking Rosedale and Farndale. The most remote inn on the moors.
The Horseshoe Inn, Levisham. A village pub with rooms at the foot of Levisham Moor, directly below the Hole of Horcum circuit.
The Milburn Arms Hotel, Rosedale Abbey. A traditional moorland inn in the valley below the old iron workings, with rooms and a solid kitchen.
The Feathers Hotel, Helmsley. A comfortable market town hotel at the southern gateway to the moors, useful for Bransdale and the western circuits.
The Goathland Hotel, Goathland. The filming location for the Aidensfield Arms in Heartbeat, with rooms and direct access to the Mallyan Spout path.
