Cleveland Way Circular & Linear Walks

This is one of the North York Moors National Park's coastal ambles.

This coastal stretch of Cleveland Way is steeped in local folklore, fishing traditions and an industrial past that can be seen in the villages and natural surroundings. The linear route takes in the picturesque coastal villages of Runswick Bay and Staithes and offers breath-taking views.

• Distance:  4 1/2 miles
• Duration:  allow about 3 hours including breaks
• Difficulty:  This walk is fairly easy,  as it descends gradually to Staithes

Download the walk details and map below

This is one of the North York Moors National Park's Coastal Ambles. Become immersed in birdsong, observe nature and admire the stunning views from Ravenscar. This is the perfect place to escape to for peace and quiet. Ever wandered what mindfulness is about? Take a mindful meander to find out.

• Distance:  just over 3 miles/ 4.8km
• Duration:  allow 2 1/2 hours including breaks
• Difficulty:  A moderate walk including hills and uneven ground

This short walk is one of our coastal ambles.  Saltburn was once an important Victorian seaside town. Today it still retains that grandeur; with the North East’s only pleasure pier and the oldest working water-balanced inclined tramway in Britain. There are plenty of fascinating finds to discover here, including the Valley Gardens, a miniature railway and artisan cafes and shops. Peruse the town to get to know its history and sample its quirkier delights.

• Distance: just under 2 miles/ 3.2 kilometres
• Duration:  allow 2 1/2 hours with plenty of breaks
• Difficulty: This is a generally easy ramble, with a bit of a climb out of the Valley Gardens to reach the top of Saltburn, then the option of the Cliff Lift to return to beach level

Download the full route, map and walk descriptions below

This  circular walk takes in the majestic heights of Roseberry Topping.  An iconic feature, seen for miles from much of North Yorkshire and Cleveland, its distinct form gives it the nickname of the Yorkshire Matterhorn. It was also voted the 6th most Romantic place in the World to propose in the World Travel Awards!

This is the land where the famous explorer Captain Cook grew up and you will see reminders of him in many places, not least at Captain Cooks Monument on Easby Moor.  There are some real delights to this walk as it wanders through woodlands and across heather moorland.

• Distance:  7.3 miles (11.7km)
• Duration:  allow 5 hours including breaks
• Difficulty:  This is a strenuous walk with some steep climbs

Download the map and route descriptions below

This is one of the North York Moors National Park coastal ambles.  It is a better alternative route for the Cleveland Way along the beack when the tide is out

With picture postcard cottages, babbling becks and stunning seascapes, Sandsend’s romantic setting will get your heart racing. The extensive 3-mile beach stretches all the way to Whitby with views of the imposing Whitby Abbey perched high on the clifftops. Walk along the beach at low tide and head back through the pretty village of Sandsend in time for sunset. Check tide times.

• Distance:  about 3 miles/ 5km
• Duration: about 2 hours with a break
• Difficulty:  an easy walk along the beach

It might only be a shade under 3 miles, but this is a real adventure walk for all the family, with some awe-inspiring views into the bargain.  There's a striking panorama of Middlesbrough, the Cleveland plain, Roseberry Topping and Cook's Mounument, and you'll get amazing views both on the outward leg and then - after a stiff, stepped climb - on the return section that follows the Cleveland Way National Trail across Cringle Moor.  The start of the trail is in the privately owned Lord Stones Country Park, where there's access to the ancient stone that gives the walk its name - as well as parking, a cafe-restaurant and local produce shop.

* Distance:   2.75 miles (4.4km)

* Duration:   2 hours

* Difficulty:   Moderate - its a short walk but it does include a big up and down

Download the map and route descriptions below.

Part of the Try a Trail series, here is a perfect walk for a weekend.  It follows the northern escarpment of the Cleveland Way from Kildale through to the sea at Saltburn.  The recommended overnight stop is at Guisborough. There are many highlights to the route, including Captain Cooks Monument, Roseberry Topping, Gisborough Priory and the delightful seaside settlement of Saltburn by the Sea.  There are also great rail connections to both ends at Kildale and Saltburn via Middlesbrough.

• Distance:  16.6 miles (26.7km)
• Duration:  Two day walk - Day 1 about 5 hours and Day 2 also about 5 hours
• Difficulty:  This is a moderate walk

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This is a fantastic two day walk taking in the jewels of the North Yorkshire Coast.  Take a weekend to explore this superb section of the Cleveland Way starting from Whitby and travelling  to Scarborough, with an overnight stop at the enchanting village of Robin Hood's Bay.  There are endless highlights to this route, the cliff scenery, Whitby Abbey, Ravenscar and the rocky cove of Hayburn Wyke to name but a few.

• Distance:  20.8 miles (33.5km)
• Duration:  Two days - Day 1 about 5 hours, Day 2 about 8 hours
• Difficulty:  Moderate - there are plenty of ups and downs along this walk

Download the map and route description below

Explore handsome Osmotherley and its surroundings on a 3¼ -mile circular walk that touches every aspect of the village’s rich religious past. The village itself has both medieval church and 18th-century Methodist chapel, while following field and woodland paths to the northwest leads to the impressive ruins of Mount Grace Priory – the best-preserved Carthusian remains in the country. Returning to Osmotherley along a section of the Cleveland Way National Trail, there’s the option of calling in at The Lady Chapel, a place of Catholic pilgrimage for over 600 years – beautifully set on a hillside with sweeping views over Bilsdale, Teesside and the Pennines. Osmotherley is a noted walking centre – on the Cleveland Way and at the start of the Lyke Wake Walk – so there’s no shortage of places to rest up afterwards, including three pubs for a population of just a few hundred!

• Distance:  3 1/4 miles
• Duration:   3 hours
• Difficulty:     a moderate walk, with a drop to reach Mount Grace Priory and the return climb back

Download the full map and route description below

This short circular walk  is a great way to appreciate the moorland fringe of the North York Moors National Park. Starting from Square Corner it descends on an attractive stone slab path to reach the delightful village of Osmotherley. This picture postcard village has been welcoming holiday makers and day trippers for over a hundred years and has good facilities with several pubs and cafes.  Further on the walk climbs back onto the moors, taking in a length of the historic Hambleton Drove Road.

• Distance: 4.8 miles (7.8km)
• Duration: allow 3 to 3 1/2 hours including breaks
• Difficulty:  Moderate

Download the map and route descriptions below

This is a circular walk on an attractive coastal section of the Cleveland Way at Ravenscar.  Ravenscar is a great spot to visit, with a unique history - it is known as the "Town that never was" and outstanding views across the coast to Robin Hoods Bay. It also houses the National Trust Visitor Centre, where there is plenty of good advice and drinks and light snacks are available, as well as the Ravenscar Tea Rooms and Raven Hall Hotel

This is a  walk of great contrasts. Firstly the dramatic cliff top experience, then a chance to walk on the old railway line between Scarborough and Whitby before culminating in a visit to the fascinating site of the Peak Alum Works.

• Distance:  6 miles (9.5km)
• Duration:  allow 3 1/2 to 4 hours including breaks
• Difficulty:  this is a fairly easy walk

Download the map and route description below

Enjoy the National Park in a nutshell on this 11-mile walk through some of the North York Moors’ most characteristic landscapes. From the craggy heights of Ravenscar the route runs across Howdale Moor for some classic moorland scenery before dropping down to the old Scarborough-to-Whitby railway line and along to the famous smugglers’ haunt of Robin Hood’s Bay. Both here and at nearby Boggle Hole you can indulge in a spot of rock-pooling and fossil-hunting, before returning along an exhilarating clifftop stretch of the Cleveland Way National Trail, via the old alum works industrial site. That’s a powerful combination of the best National Park experiences in one big day out.

• Distance: 11 miles (17.7km)
• Duration:  6 1/2 hours
• Difficulty:  This is a strenuous walk

Download the full walk details with map and route descriptions below

This is one of the North York Moors National Park's Coastal Ambles.

Robin Hood’s Bay holds a fascinating mix of history and legend. A Stone Age settlement, smugglers’ haunt in the 1700s and a 190 million year old coastline full of ancient rocks, Jurassic fossil and rock pools. This experience leads you along the beach at low tide and back on the Cleveland Way National Trail, with views from the cliff top. Check tide times. Add 10 minutes to the Whitby tide times for Bay.

• Distance:  1 1/2 miles/ 2.25km
• Duration:  about 2 hours
• Difficulty: There are steep steps at both Boggle Hole and Robin Hood's Bay

Download the walk details with the map below

This 6 mile circular walk to Maw Wyke follows the cliffs north of Robin Hood's Bay and passes Ness Point, one of the most treacherous headlands along this coastline. Looking at the jagged rocks, it's not hard to imagine small fishing boats being tossed about at the mercy of the sea.  The stiff breezes, wheeling seabirds and clifftop panoramas are left behind on the return along the Cinder Track, the line of the old railway between Whitby and Scarborough, where occasional benches, hedgerows and wildflower patches offer a gentle approach to the age-old fishing village of Robin Hood's Bay.

• Distance    6 miles (9.8Km)
• Duration     4 hours
• Difficulty      Moderate - it is generally easy going, but there is one steep climb to get from the Cleveland Way to the Cinder Track

Download the full map and walk details below

This is a moderate walk on good tracks, but with gradients up to 1:15. The Saltburn Valley Gardens are a maze of pleasant paths and tracks with seats at frequent intervals. Refreshments, a Woodland Centre, children’s play areas and a miniature railway can all be enjoyed – all set in a mix of formal gardens and ‘wild’ woodland.

The walk is likely to be suitable for people with impaired mobility or with a pushchair, wheelchair or mobility scooter.

The walk can be done without steps or stiles, though alternative stepped sections are also described. The path condition will vary depending on the weather.

Get some sea air on this 4-mile circular walk, starting at the atmospheric old fishing village of Staithes, with its harbourside cottages, cobbled streets and winding alleys. Leave the sheltered harbour and follow the Cleveland Way National Trail for the first half of the walk, tramping across the high cliffs to Port Mulgrave and enjoying wonderful coastal views. The return is across fields and through woodland, via the small hamlet of Dalehouse.

• Distance: 4 miles (6.4km)
• Duration:  2 1/2 hours
• Difficulty:  A moderate walk, with a steep climb from Staithes Harbour to the cliff top and a descent and ascent in the woods.

Download the map and full route description below

This 5¼ mile / 8.5km walk uses the Cleveland Way National Trail along the Sutton Bank escarpment, which means you can enjoy outstanding views across the Vale of Mowbray to the distant Yorkshire Dales. It also takes in some of the Sutton Bank ‘Cliff’ cycle route, which winds through the woods and across the fields.

There are no steps or stiles and so the walk is likely to be suitable for people with a wheelchair, mobility scooter, hand cycle mountain bikes or mountain trikes.

Some of the most spectacular views in the whole National Park unfold as you cross the heights of Cold Moor, en route to the magnificent rock crags known as the Wainstones.  This 8-mile circuit makes a challenging day out, but you are amply rewarded for your efforts, whether it's watching rock-climbers tackle the crags, sampling one of the most thrilling sections of the Cleveland Way National Trail, or skirting Urra Moor on your return - the latter is the highest point in the North York Moors.  This is a fabulous moorland walk, with lots of high points - in every respect!

• Distance:     8 miles (13 km)
• Duration:     5 1/2 hours
• Difficulty:     a strenuous walk with plenty of ups and downs