Dog-friendly walks in Thornton le Dale

Over 8,500 acres of Forestry England woodland in the southern moors, entered via the toll road from Thornton-le-Dale, with waymarked walking trails from easy-access lakeside strolls at Low Dalby to all-day forest hikes. Dogs are welcome and can run off lead on the forest tracks under control - keep them close near the visitor centre, cyclists and wildlife areas. Open daily 8am to 8pm, with a cafe and facilities at the visitor centre.

A big 9.9-mile forest-and-moor day with 240 metres of ascent, roughly four and a quarter hours, mostly on firm gravel forest roads before a boardwalked and stepped section over the sandstone outcrops of the Bridestones. Start from the visitor centre at Low Dalby and drive in on the Dalby Forest Drive, which carries a toll; the Bridestones themselves also have a small car park at Staindale if you want to shorten it. Dogs are free to run on the forest roads and there is Dalby Beck and Staindale Lake for a drink, but the Bridestones moor is heather nature reserve where leads are asked for from 1 March to 31 July to protect ground-nesting birds, and there are short drops off the rocks.