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Helmsley · 5 checked

Dog-friendly walks in Helmsley

Boots on. These are the Helmsley walks worth the drive, with lead rules and livestock warnings marked.

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880 YD © OpenStreetMap contributors 4.5 MI · LOOP
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Duncombe Park and the Fairy Staircase

Helmsley · YO62 5AB
No reviews yet
4.5MILES
1:58TIME
100mCLIMB
85%OFF-ROAD
Livestock — leads on

An easy 4.5-mile loop with 100 metres of ascent, under two hours, running out of town along the grass terraces of Duncombe Park and down the stepped Fairy Staircase to the River Rye; smooth going apart from the steps, which are steep and greasy in the wet. Start at Helmsley market place, five minutes from the castle car park, and the town is well served by buses from Thirsk, Malton and Scarborough. There is deep water in the Rye for a swim and shade from the veteran parkland oaks, but Duncombe Park is a working estate and a national nature reserve, so dogs stay on the lead throughout and off the deer lawns.

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440 YD © OpenStreetMap contributors 5.4 MI · LOOP
SOME LIMITS

Duncombe Park and the River Rye

Helmsley · YO62 5EB
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5.4MILES
2:21TIME
110mCLIMB
85%OFF-ROAD
Off-lead allowed Livestock — leads on

Five and a half miles with 110 metres of ascent and about two and a quarter hours, using the parkland drives and the riverside path below the terraces rather than the well-trodden Fairy Staircase route; the ground is mostly firm, with one muddy dip near the ha-ha. Start at Helmsley market place and walk out past the castle to the park gates on Buckingham Square, or use the pay-and-display at the Cleveland Way car park if the square is full on a Friday market. The Rye is reachable at several points for a swim and the open parkland lets a steady dog off the lead, but Duncombe Park is a working estate with fallow deer and sheep, and the National Nature Reserve section asks for dogs under close control at all times.

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1 MILE © OpenStreetMap contributors 10.6 MI · LOOP
SOME LIMITS

Helmsley Castle to Rievaulx Abbey Full Circuit

Helmsley · YO62 5BJ
No reviews yet
10.6MILES
4:43TIME
280mCLIMB
85%OFF-ROAD
Livestock — leads on

The full 10.6-mile version of the classic, with 280 metres of ascent and about four and three quarter hours of walking, out on the Cleveland Way through woodland and returning by the high field paths above Griff; there is one steep pull out of the Rye valley and the woodland sections stay greasy for weeks after rain. It begins at Helmsley market place and the Cleveland Way car park; do the walk the other way round and you can catch the Moorsbus back from Rievaulx on summer Sundays rather than walking the return leg. Rievaulx Abbey grounds admit dogs on leads and the Rye gives good deep water at Bow Bridge, but a long stretch runs through Duncombe estate pasture with sheep and the high fields above Griff are grazed too.

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880 YD © OpenStreetMap contributors 3.1 MI · LINEAR — PLAN THE RETURN
SOME LIMITS

Helmsley to Rievaulx Abbey Walk

Helmsley · YO62 5AZ
No reviews yet
3.1MILES
1:40TIME
160mCLIMB
90%OFF-ROAD
Off-lead allowed Livestock — leads on

The opening leg of the Cleveland Way, from the Cleveland Way car park in Helmsley through fields and bluebell woodland into the deep pastoral valley of the Rye, arriving at the soaring ruins of Rievaulx Abbey - around three miles each way, or up to seven miles as a circuit. Dogs can stretch out off lead through the wooded sections but must go on lead past the sheep fields at the start and on the abbey grounds, where leashed dogs are welcome in the ruins and cafe. One of England's great short walks, with a monastic masterpiece at the end.

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1 MILE © OpenStreetMap contributors 14.1 MI · LOOP
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Rievaulx Bank and Newgate Bank from Helmsley

Helmsley · YO62 5BJ
No reviews yet
14.1MILES
6:07TIME
300mCLIMB
85%OFF-ROAD
Off-lead allowed Livestock — leads on

A serious 14.1-mile day with 300 metres of ascent and around six hours on the clock, following the Cleveland Way out of town before a long haul up Rievaulx Bank and a moor-edge traverse to Newgate Bank; the woodland zigzags are slippery in the wet and the return down Riccal Dale is rutted by forestry traffic. It starts at Helmsley market place, where the Cleveland Way plaque is set into the paving, and the Cleveland Way car park on Cleveland Way itself is the obvious long-stay spot with the Moorsbus and Scarborough & District 128 both calling in the square. There is water in the Rye and in Riccal Dale, and long stretches of forest track where a dog can properly stretch out, but the escarpment fields above Rievaulx hold sheep all year and the last mile back into town is on lane.

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