Moderate
Roseberry Topping circular
Short, steep and hugely rewarding: the classic climb to the moors' most recognisable summit.
On foot
Walks in the North York Moors
Graded routes from gentle riverside strolls to full-day ridge walks, each with distance, time and a start point you can navigate to.
Every route here follows public rights of way or open access land. Check our rights of way guide for what the signs mean, the rules for dogs and how to report a blocked path.
Moderate
Moderate
Hole of Horcum and Levisham Moor
A full circuit of the great amphitheatre with views into Newton Dale and a possible steam train below.
Moderate
Mallyan Spout and Beck Hole
Waterfall, riverside gorge, a tiny pub and an easy return along an old railway.
Easy
Sutton Bank and Gormire Lake
The finest view in England, then a descent to a hidden glacial lake and a climb back through the woods.
Easy
Helmsley to Rievaulx Abbey
The first stage of the Cleveland Way: woods and meadows from the town to the most beautiful abbey in the north.
Moderate
Robin Hood's Bay to Ravenscar
Cliff path out along the Cleveland Way, old railway back: the best half-day on the Yorkshire coast.
Moderate
Rosedale ironstone railway circuit
Level walking along an old mineral railway around the dale head, past ruined kilns, with the Lion Inn half way.
Challenging
The Cleveland Way
National Trail in a horseshoe around the moors: 109 miles of escarpment and sea cliff over about nine days.
Moderate
Whitby to Robin Hood's Bay on the Cleveland Way
The classic clifftop day: abbey to bay past Saltwick, the lighthouse and the fog signal, with a bus back.
Easy
Falling Foss and May Beck
Easy woodland loop to a waterfall, a tea garden and a hermit's cave.
Easy
Farndale daffodil walk
Riverside stroll through the daffodil reserve to Church Houses and its pub.
Challenging
The Wainstones and Hasty Bank
Rocky tors, a stretch of the Cleveland Way and a big view over the Cleveland plain.
Easy
Cod Beck Reservoir circular
A gentle lap of a pine-fringed reservoir on good paths; half the route is accessible for wheelchairs.
Easy
Whitby to Sandsend beach walk
Along the West Cliff and three miles of sand to a village cafe, then back on the bus or on foot.
Moderate
Bridestones and Dovedale Griff
Sandstone rock stacks, heather moor and an ancient oak wood in a National Trust reserve.
Moderate
Staithes to Port Mulgrave
Cliff path from a fishing village to an abandoned ironstone harbour with the best fossils on the coast.
Challenging
Lyke Wake Walk
The famous 40-mile challenge across the moors from west to east coast, to be completed inside 24 hours.
Moderate
Byland Abbey and Mount Snever
Abbey ruins, a climb through woods to an observatory folly and a return past the Kilburn White Horse road.
Moderate
Great Ayton to Captain Cook's Monument
A climb from Cook's boyhood village to the obelisk on Easby Moor, with Roseberry Topping across the valley.
Moderate
Danby Beacon and Danby Lodge
Riverside path, a climb to the beacon and a return over Oakley Walls with the Esk Valley spread out below.
Moderate
Hawnby Hill and Easterside
Two whaleback hills in the quiet western dales with views to the Cleveland Hills and Bilsdale.
Moderate
Levisham Station to Skelton Tower
A steep climb from the station to a ruined folly with the best view of steam trains in Newton Dale.
Easy
Saltwick Bay from Whitby Abbey
A short cliff walk to a dramatic bay with a shipwreck, back along the abbey plain.
Easy
Kirkdale, St Gregory's Minster and Hodge Beck
A Saxon church, an Ice Age cave and a wooded valley whose stream vanishes underground.
Easy
Coxwold, Byland Abbey and the Sterne country
Laurence Sterne's daily walk from Shandy Hall to the abbey, with the Hambleton Hills above.
Moderate
Ravenscar to Hayburn Wyke
Cliff path south to a waterfall beach, back along the old railway through woods.
Moderate
Lilla Cross from Jugger Howe
A crossing of Fylingdales Moor to the oldest Christian monument on the moors, with sea views the whole way.
Moderate
Blakey Topping from Saltergate
The rim of the Hole of Horcum, then across the moor to a conical hill with standing stones.
Moderate
Highcliff Nab and Guisborough Forest
Forest tracks to a rocky viewpoint over Guisborough, the sea and the whole northern moor edge.
Challenging
Saltburn to Staithes on the Cleveland Way
The wildest section of the coast path: Huntcliff, Skinningrove, Boulby and the highest cliff on England's east coast.
Before you set off
Walking safely on the moors
The moors are high, open and exposed. Weather can change quickly and phone signal is patchy in the dales. A few basics keep a good day good.
- Carry an OS map (Explorer OL26 and OL27 cover the park) and know how to use it.
- Take waterproofs and a warm layer even in summer.
- Check tide times for any coastal walk that uses the beach.
- Keep dogs on leads near livestock and during ground-nesting season, March to July.
- Tell someone your route if you are heading onto the high moor alone.