Dalby Forest, in the heart of the North York Moors National Park offers the perfect place to escape, relax and adventure
Home to 8,000 acres of breath-taking views, endless walking, running and cycle trails and Gruffalo adventures, a great day out awaits at Dalby Forest.
A visit to Dalby will uncover many magical things such as The Gruffalo orienteering course, Gruffalo 25th Birthday trail, some of the very best mountain biking trails and endless stunning views. Keep your eyes peeled along the way for our unique sculptures which are dotted throughout the forest, get the adrenaline pumping at Dalby Activity Centre or test your nerve and swing amongst the trees on their Go Ape courses.
Dalby Forest is home to an abundance of internationally important wildlife species and is also a designated Dark Sky Discovery Site, where you can experience the magic of seeing the Milky Way with the naked eye.
If one day leaves you wanting more, extend your forest adventure with a stay at the Forest Holidays cabins .
Please note that barbeques and fires are not currently allowed anywhere in the forest.
Dalby Forest, YO18 7LT
Give the gift of green space, adventure this Christmas with a membership they will love!
Membership to Dalby Forest is just £60 for the year.
Once purchased, your loved one can choose when their membership starts and enjoy a year’s free parking in Dalby Forest, 10% discount for bike hire, 10% discount in Dalby Forest cafe and 15% off at Go Ape, plus much more!
Geocaching is something exciting to do outdoors, in which you use the GPS on your mobile phone to hide and seek containers, called “geocaches” or “caches”, at specific locations marked by coordinates. It’s one big treasure hunt! Great if you have a little pirate or adventurer, or if you have older children who want to do a bit of orienteering. It’s great for all ages. The Geocache containers have been hidden by other local families and usually contain a note pad and pencil so that you can log that you have found it. There are also usually little treasures (think Christmas Cracker toys) and you can if you choose, take something out to keep and replace it with a trinket yourself (we have not removed or replaced items during the coronavirus pandemic, but we have enjoyed logging that we found it).
You can find the coordinates of the geocaches and join in, by:
You can also create your own geocache and hide it (we have done this a few times and had great fun putting a container together and hiding it). We get an alert when someone finds and log’s it.
You will need:
Once you have created your geocache:
See 8 tips for a great geocache here
See how to hide a geocache here
Test your cycling skills at the cycle skills area before heading on the Ellerburn Family Cycle Trail (4 km). Offering an easy ride through mixed terrain, it’s a great choice for parents with young children.
www.forestryengland.uk/dalbyforest
Dalby Forest, Pickering YO18 7LT
01751 472771
This year Forestry England are taking some time to celebrate their fantastic cycling offer at Dalby Forest. Cycling is one of the key activities at Dalby and they already have really brilliant, well established cycling trails and facilities, and something for everyone when it comes to navigating the forest on two wheels.
As well as keeping children physically fit, research has shown that cycling can bring about a feeling of greater self-esteem, self-control and the ability to rise to a challenge.
The NEW Forest Rider pack has been designed to challenge children to complete a series of off-road rides, to help build their confidence and to enjoy the fantastic network of trails the nation’s forest have to offer. Aimed at children aged 7-11, the Forest Rider pack will encourage children to get out and about on their bikes in the forest and be safe and responsible forest riders!
In your pack, you will find:
o A logbook to record your rides
o A cool Forest Rider neck buff
o Pro cycle skill cards to help you be the best forest rider you can be. These include QR codes which, when scanned, will take you to videos teaching you how to do the tricks
o Stickers and activities
o The chance to solve a puzzle to enter a prize drawer to win £350 Halfords voucher, a family experience with Go Ape, a Forestry England Membership and more!
Packs are £5 from the Dalby Forest Visitor Centre, or £6.50 if bought online.
Onsite facilities with two play areas, a trim trail to challenge you, a sculpture trail, circular waymarked walks and bike trails, and a permanent orienteering course. A dipping platform provides access into the wetland area and there’s a regular events programme. The trail is 2.5 miles in length. Free to walk.
Grab a Zog trail activity pack for only £4 before starting the trail for lots of fun things to do on your forest adventure. Children can channel their inner Zog by donning a pair of wings and completing fun challenges to collect golden stars. They can also pop on the magic glasses to look for hidden letters along the way to solve a word puzzle. When reaching the end of the trail, they complete a crayon rubbing to get their certificate and take a selfie with Zog!
To complement the trail and to take your dragon training to the next level, there is also a brand new augmented reality app, ‘Zog: A Forest Adventure’, that is free to download.
Pay & display car park
Pinchinthorpe, Guisthorpe, TS14 8HD
Have you visited Royal Albert Park for our Story Trail? If you haven’t yet had a chance to enjoy an adventure with Uncle Josh, Mia, Kai and their dog Scruffy then it just got a whole lot easier. Use the link below or scan the code to access the newly digitised version of the North Yorkshire Coast story trail along with handy tips and advice to make the most of this FREE resource.
Any parents are welcome to join us for the opportunity to meet new friends whilst getting out for a walk around our wonderful town!
Children are welcome, with or without a pram, but please read the route and see if the length of each walk is suitable for your little one to manage on foot.
Alternate weeks the walk will be kept around the Marine Drive to try and keep central for those who don’t drive or can’t access walks further away, the in between weeks will be walks in the surrounding area of Scarborough, somewhere different every week to discover new areas and keep it fresh for the children! All walks will be pushchair friendly 😊
Keep an eye on the Facebook Page here
Regular events including arranging outdoor playdates and walks aimed at children and parents who love to get outside.
The Scarborough Trails are a collection of walks around Scarborough with things to see and activities to do along the way. Give our trails a go, they are a great way to get outside and experience Scarborough alone or with your friends, family and neighbours.
The trails belong to everyone in Scarborough, and they’re yours to use as you like, so join in! There is something for everyone – whatever your age, whatever your ability, whatever your interests.
Download a trail map, grab some friends, family or neighbours and go and explore Scarborough!
In association with North Yorkshire County Council and Scarborough Borough Council.
Great place for a walk and to watch birds, particularly puffins. 200,000 plus birds can be seen on the cliffs from April to August. You can walk a long way along the cliff tops. To the left, there are accessible paths and the right, slightly rougher tracks. Out to the cliffs, there are accessible wooden platforms to give you the best possible view of nesting birds. Good signage helping you spot the birds. There is also a Visitor Centre with a cafe, shop and toilets.
Located on the cliff road from Bempton village (on the B1229 road from Flamborough to Filey), YO15 1JF, follow the brown tourist signs.
Filey and the surrounding area hosts some excellent cycle rides whether you are new to cycling or an experienced rider. Want to keep the children entertained? Like the idea of exploring the Yorkshire Wolds villages at a slower pace than in the car? We have the bikes to suit, whatever your plans. Flexible packages from 2 hours to as long as you need.
Please give us a call and we will try to accommodate your individual needs.
1 Union St, Filey YO14 9DZ
01723 518314
This is a great walk for all ages with beautiful views and lots to do along the way.
Tide permitting: Walk along the beach (south) from Robin Hoods Bay to Boggle Hole. Along the way, search for fossils, shells and rock pools – a great beach to explore and have fun. Boggle Hole is the home to YHA Boggle Hole. The hostel was once an old mill and is tucked away practically on the shoreline of an old smugglers cove which you get to by walking across a bridge. They have a lovely café which serves great refreshments as well as running Seashore Safari’s and much more. The tide comes in very quickly and you can get cut off so you can return to Robin’s Hoods Bay on the Cleveland Way, on top of the cliffs. Climb up the path between the hostel and the beach (on your left as you look out to sea) and follow it all the way. This is an accessible route for little legs and brings you out about the Old Coastguard Station in Robin Hoods Bay. There are spectacular views. For very little legs, I suggest a carrier as there are steps at both ends. The walk can be done either way depending on the tide.
Dalby Forest Cycle Hub is the perfect place to start and end your day out. We have the best range of hire bikes and everything you need to make the most of your day.
You can hire a bike for half a day or a full day. For young families, we hire child seats & trailers too.
01751 460585
Danes Dyke is a Nature Reserve just North of Bridlington. The beach is a mixture of sand and rocks, and can be accessed on foot along the clifftop walk from Sewerby (about 2 miles), and then you can take the steps all the way down to the beach. Or you can park in the designated car park accessed from the main road from Bridlington, and then walk through the nature reserve down to the beach, there are a number of nature trails in the Dyke which can be accessed easily from the car park.
Danes Dyke, Flamborough Head, Flamborough, YO15 1DU
Go on an insect adventure with this #GardentoGarden workshop for young people and families.
More details HERE
Walk from Farndale village. Beautiful as the daffodils come out, lovely walk on a hard path suitable for push chairs and a good stream for a paddle!
Farndale Daffodil Walk, Low Mill, North York Moors National Park, YO62 7UY
Lovely walk along the clifftops to Bempton and further towards Filey.
The 7-mile walk is fairly challenging, but well worth it for the views you get from the top of the cliffs. Starting in Flamborough village, the route heads by Thornwick Bay (a great photo opp), before descending on the beautiful Flamborough Cliffs Nature Reserve. Following the coastline on top of the cliffs, trekkers will get glorious views out to sea – perfect for a mild day.
The route also runs past the Lighthouse, before circling back round to the village and the remains of Flamborough Castle.
Not suitable for pushchairs or young children.
Lovely walk (approx 2 miles) on a wooden boardwalk (good for pushchairs), following the River Derwent through beautiful woodland. Starts from the Old Man’s Mouth Picnic Site. Lots of seats along the way!
YO13 9EJ
These three fantastic and peaceful gardens are all separate but they all join together to form a lovely walk, with scenic routes to the beach. They are perfect for the family, whether you are having a picnic or kicking a ball about or even have a paddle on the boating lake, and there is also a cafe too!
West Avenue, Filey, North Yorkshire, YO14 9JL
01723 383636
Based in Scarborough, North Yorkshire we offer a wide range of events, including fossil hunts, rock pooling trips, dinosaur footprint walks, etc. Their experienced leaders will be able to show you the amazing secrets hidden on our coast, from 180 million year old fossils and Jurassic dinosaur footprints to the creatures that call it home today. Ideal for families, small groups and birthday parties!
Scarborough, South Bay. Ring for details and prices.
01723 817017
Hutton-le-Hole is a small village and civil parish in the Ryedale district of North Yorkshire, England, about seven miles north-west of Pickering. Hutton-le-Hole is a popular scenic village within the North York Moors National Park.
‘We used to go to Hutton-le-hole as kids. Fab little streams to play in. Best in the summer months to take a picnic’
LH March 2017
“Visit Hutton le Hole on the edge of the North Yorkshire Moors for a lovely family day out.
Bring a picnic and have a paddle in the pretty beck that runs through the village. There’s parking, a pub and shops selling ice cream. One of our favourite places!”
Mumbler Recommended SC ’17
www.northyorkmoors.org.uk/visiting/see-and-do/attractions/hutton-le-hole
Impressive 13 arch viaduct which forms part of the Cinder Track trail from Scarborough to Whitby. You can either walk along it to be rewarded with scenic views, or view it from below by taking the A171, via Larpool Lane then Riverside Walk.
Larpool Viaduct, 7 Riverside Walk, Whitby YO22 4NY
If ever there was a magical woodland walk, this is it. Take the trail through the trees on a 2-mile circular route that passes an idyllic woodland tea garden and the 30-foot Falling Foss waterfall, before returning alongside babbling May Beck. It’s a lovely shady walk for summer – with shallow waters to paddle in, and a bridge to play pooh-sticks from – and spectacular in autumn when the woodland colours are at their best. If you don’t intend to venture far from the tea garden and waterfall, you can use an alternative car park near Falling Foss instead.
It is possible with a pram, but carrier best if you have one as sometimes a bit boggy under foot.
Visit the North York Moors National Park Website here
Easy directions:
Offers a range of watersport activities including aqua park (including one for Toddlers (Splash Kingdom), stand up paddle boarding, kayaking, open water swimming, sailing, canoeing. Plus walks, cycle track, cafe and a relaxing environment. Free parking, free entry, you only pay to play.
Well behaved dogs on a lead welcome.
Wykeham Lakes, Long Causeway Road, Scarborough YO13 9QU
01723 865052
Situated to the north west of Scarborough, these form an “L” shape with Forge Valley Woods and the River Derwent. There you will find Nature and geology trails, Throxenby mere and fishing, Secret Wood events, Boardwalks and bridleways, Bird feeding station, Bluebell wood, Riverside walk.
Scarborough YO12 5TG
Lovely circular walk, suitable for pushchairs and there are swans, geese, ducks, water hens and other birds to see and feed.
Accessible car park.
The Mere Cafe – perfect for a pit stop.
9 Mere Lane, Scarborough YO11 2YN
The Cinder Track, between Scarborough and Whitby, is a popular off road route through the North York Moors National Park, just inland from the stunning North Yorkshire coast. It follows the old railway line and gives views on the coast and countryside. 21 miles of track ideal for walking, biking and riding. The track starts in Sainsbury’s carpark off Falsgrave Road, Scarborough.
This is a beautiful garden located near the Esplanade on the cliff tops. Highlights include a miniature fairy garden , a pond, and a recent addition in 2022 was a new wooden adventure play area for children.
Shuttleworth Gardens, Esplanade Crescent, Scarborough YO11 2UE
Car park at the top with toilets. Steep enough walk down to the beach but level so pram is possible as long as you are feeling strong on the way home! Pebbly / rocky beach with lots to explore including an arch and caves. Puffins, razorbills and gulls can be seen on the cliffs. Be careful of the tide as you can get cut off quickly.
Thornwick Bay, Flamborough. YO15 1AU
Spend the day wandering through the woods, wetlands and grasslands marvelling at all kinds of wildlife, from otters to dragonflies. 5km of surfaces paths make it accessible to all users. We recommend bringing lunch with you as the nearest town is nearly 10 miles away. Please note dogs are not permitted on the reserve nor are to be left in cars.
Top tip – pond dipping equipment available and great nature walks. If you are lucky you may get to see the resident snake! Occasional open days where more going on. Small charge for entry.
Tophill Low, Driffield – YO25 9RH
Lovely walks off the North York Moors Road in Wykeham