Dog-friendly walks in Grosmont

A moderate 8.3-mile circular with a stiff 360 metres of climbing, near enough four hours, running north-east from Grosmont through Back Wood and Hecks Wood above the Esk towards Sleights, then hauling up onto Sleights Moor for Lucy's Viewpoint before dropping back over Grosmont Bridge. Park at the North Yorkshire Moors Railway car park in Grosmont, or arrive by steam train from Pickering or on the Esk Valley service from Whitby. There is real off-lead space in the woods and along the moor track, but the moor is grazed by sheep, holds ground-nesting birds in spring and summer, and close to half the route is on tarmac lanes.

A three-and-a-half-mile point-to-point along the trackbed of George Stephenson's original 1836 Whitby & Pickering railway, dropping gently from Goathland through Beck Hole and the wooded Murk Esk valley to the engine sheds at Grosmont. It is level, dog-friendly walking with space to roam, though sheep graze freely around Goathland so leads on at the start. The masterstroke: walk one way and steam back on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, which carries dogs for a small fee.