Dog-friendly Pickering

A 200-year-old CAMRA award-winning freehouse on Westgate, several times Rural Pub of the Year, pouring up to six real ales largely from Yorkshire micros beside a real fire. Dogs on leads are welcome inside and out, and there is a big beer garden and garden room. No kitchen - regulars bring their fish and chips in, which suits a damp dog nicely.

An award-winning farm shop and cafe on the edge of Pickering with a miniature railway and its own pick-your-own fields. Dogs are not permitted inside the cafe but are welcome on the outdoor terrace and lawn, where water bowls are plentiful, and there is a secure hireable dog field beside the cafe so your dog can tear about while you have a takeaway coffee at the picnic tables.

A 9.1-mile circuit north of Pickering on field paths, bridleways and estate tracks with about 230 metres of climbing, taking around four hours; the Blansby Park section ruts up badly and stays muddy well into spring. Start at Pickering station car park, where the walk crosses the North Yorkshire Moors Railway twice at Newbridge and again on the return, so expect steam and whistles. Dogs can run loose on the long forest and moor-edge tracks but must be back on the lead for the deer park and the grazing fields around Blansby, and firmly held at both level crossings.

Timber lodges on a working farm south-west of Pickering, well placed for Dalby Forest and the steam railway. Dogs are accepted in all of the lodges, so there is no scrambling for the one pet-friendly unit.

A family-run touring park and holiday home site on the Malton road out of Pickering. It is a dog friendly site with no extra charge for dogs, and pitches are allocated with the dog in mind if you say so when you book.

A Victorian guesthouse on the edge of Pickering, within walking distance of the castle and the station. Dogs are welcome by arrangement and there are written house rules for them, which is a good sign of a place that has thought it through.

A small yurt and camping site on the southern edge of Pickering, quiet and adult-oriented. Dogs are welcome in both the yurts and the tent pitches, and the owners are direct about the conditions attached.

A characterful family-run coaching inn on Pickering's Market Place with 21 bedrooms, a low-beamed bar and a stone-flagged dining room serving robust Yorkshire cooking. Dogs are welcomed on request in the Hideaway rooms - converted outbuildings, some with underfloor heating and direct outdoor access, ideal with a dog in tow. Steps from the North Yorkshire Moors Railway for a steam-hauled day out.

Britain's most popular heritage steam railway, running 24 miles from Pickering through Newton Dale to Goathland, Grosmont and on to Whitby. Well-behaved dogs travel on standard services for three pounds a day, kept on a short lead and off the seats, with water bowls provided at stations - though they cannot join first class or the Pullman dining trains. Combine with the Rail Trail for a walk-out, steam-back day.

A motte and bailey castle on the hill above Pickering, with a fine view over the town and the steam line. English Heritage names it as one of its dog-friendly properties, and the grassy bailey is an easy circuit on the lead.