If you have over indulged over the Christmas period you are probably craving fresh air and the kids are likely to have excess energy to burn off! It’s time to wrap up and get out of the house!
We’ve compiled a list of Boxing Day and New Year walks in and around The Coast – all child friendly – and great for seeing our local countryside at it’s best.
If your little one loves The Highway Rat, this is your last chance to do the trail. It is leaving Dalby in early January to make way for Zog.
The Adderstone Rigg trail (1.5 miles)
Head into Dalby Forest and explore the naturally sculpted adder stone with your senses on this gentle walk. The trail follows forest paths and roads through a variety of woodland allowing you the opportunity to ease your stress. You will be met with stunning views over the forest.
Don’t forget Adderstone Field for easy access to the Gruffalo Orienteering trail and the Enchanted Wood.
Crosscliff View trail – a short (0.75miles, easy walk with a view
An easy access trail on a flat, even surface with extensive views of Blakey Topping from the viewpoint.
Ellerburn trail (1.7miles) – an easy walk in the woods alongside a river
Starting at the Dalby Courtyard near the Visitor Centre, the Ellerburn Trail is a multi-user pathway for disabled cyclists, walkers, and wheelchair users as well as being a safe and accessible route for children learning to ride a bike and parents with pushchairs. The trail runs alongside Ellerburn Beck.
A short detour (total 2.8 miles) takes you to Ellerburn Pond and Bird Hide past the entrance to the bat hibernaculum (an artificial cave where bats can spend the winter).
Guide to other walks in Dalby Forest here.
For those who would like a festive stroll and a chance to see the new tree, the Gardens are open all year round, (only closed on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day) and admission is free during the winter months. The Clock Tower Café is also open, serving a range of hot and cold refreshments.
The house is open at weekends only during the winter season, from 11.30am – 3.30pm (last admission 3pm). However, the house will also be open between Christmas and New Year, on 27 and 28 December. Admission charges to the house apply : £3.50 for adults, and £2.50 for children, or £11 for a family ticket.
The zoo is also open every day with daily feeding times for the lemurs, coatis, and the ever popular penguins. (Admission to the zoo is £3.50 for adults and £2.50 for children, or £11 for a family ticket.)
Tickets for the house and zoo combined cost £6 for adults; £4 for children; or £19 for a family.
Danes Dyke; Jutting out miles into the North Sea, the headland has in the past been effectively cut off by the construction, in the Iron Age, of the erroneously named Danes’ Dyke, which encloses five square miles of the peninsula. The end of the Dyke is a deep ravine on the south side of the Headland, where it exits into Bridlington Bay There are a number of nature trails in the Dyke which can be accessed easily from the car park off the main Bridlington to Flamborough Road.
Danes Dyke, Flamborough Head, Flamborough, East Yorkshire YO15 1AG
Esk Valley to Beck Hole Easy Access Walk
When the railway came to the Esk Valley in the 1830s it transformed both life and landscape. Explore the line of George Stephenson’s original Whitby to Pickering railway by following a 3-mile level linear route that avoids the hills at the beginning and end of the full ‘Rail Trail’. The starting point is the isolated hamlet of Esk Valley, part of the way along the line from Grosmont, which involves a roundabout approach by road from Grosmont via Egton Bridge (4½ miles/7.5km) or Goathland (5 miles/8km). Your halfway point reward on the walk is the charming hamlet of Beck Hole, which has a fine old riverside pub by the bridge.
Great for: easy access, riverside rambles, history buffs
Length:3 miles (4.8km)
Time: 2 hours
Start/Finish: Parking area, bottom of hill, Esk Valley hamlet
Runswick Bay Easy Access WalkRunswick Bay Easy Access Walk
Runswick Bay Easy Access Walk
Take a pleasant 2-mile linear walk along the Runswick Bay clifftop to enjoy wide views over Runswick Bay and Port Mulgrave. It’s an easy access walk that doesn’t descend to the village of Runswick Bay itself, but instead follows the Cleveland Way National Trail as it heads north towards Staithes. The view at the turn-around point of the walk is of the remains of the harbour at Port Mulgrave, which was opened in 1856 to ship iron ore from nearby mines to the furnaces of the northeast. Today, it’s hard to imagine how industrial this area once was – the only sound you’ll hear on the walk is the cry of seabirds and the rustle of the sea breeze in the gorse bushes.
Great for: easy access, coastal capers.
Length: 2 miles (3.2km)
Time: 1 hour
Start/Finish: Upper car park, Runswick Bay
Danby Castle Walk – ancestral home of the Danby Estate – lies high up on a spur overlooking the Esk Valley. Down in the dale stands the estate’s former hunting lodge, now The Moors National Park Centre, and this pleasant 2-mile circular walk follows a well-trodden path between the two. It’s a charming route for a summer’s day, on quiet field paths and country lanes, and there’s a stop on the way back at Danby’s lovely old Duck Bridge. It’s only a short walk, but come for the day and you can also enjoy the displays and activities at The Moors Centre – there’s plenty of space for a picnic, as well as a café.
Great for: history buffs, family walks
Length:2 miles (3.2km)
Time: 1 hour
Start/Finish: The Moors National Park Centre, Danby
Lord Stones Walk
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 Monument, which you’ll see 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 café-restaurant and local produce shop.
Great for: big-sky views, family walks, list-tickers, rock-hounds
Length:2¾ miles (4.4km)
Time: 2 hours
Start/Finish: Lord Stones Country Park
The beach is fantastic place to go to blow the cobwebs away – suggestions here.
There is also page on the website listing more walks in and around The Coast here
If you have a favourite walk, please do share it (email me here) and I will ensure it is on the website.
