Route diagram, drawn from the recorded track — for the shape of the walk, not for navigation. Carry OS Explorer on the hill.
The best six miles of the Esk Valley Walk, a linear 6.1-mile stage of about two and a half hours with only 70 metres of climbing, past the stepping stones at Lealholm, on through Glaisdale, over Beggar's Bridge and the Monks' Trod to Egton Bridge and down to Grosmont. Start from the car park by the bridge in Lealholm; every village on the stage has a station on the Esk Valley line, so you can walk one way and take the train back. Riverside meadows and woods with several safe places for a dog to get in the water, but there are grazed fields and gates throughout and the stepping stones at both Lealholm and Egton Bridge go under after heavy rain.
A proper 8.8-mile half day with 250 metres of ascent and around four hours on the clock, climbing from the Esk on to open heather moor where the going is peaty and can be genuinely boggy after rain. Start on the green by the stepping stones at Lealholm, which has a free riverside car park, a tea room and its own station on the Esk Valley line. The Esk and the ford at Rake Lane give good swimming at either end, but the moor is grouse ground grazed by loose sheep, so leads are required from 1 March to 31 July for ground-nesting birds and sensible year-round wherever sheep are about.
A 1700s country inn on the green beside the River Esk in one of the prettiest villages in the Esk Valley, serving traditional pub food and homemade puddings Wednesday to Sunday. Dogs are welcome in the bar area and on the riverside terrace, and the five en-suite rooms take dogs for a small nightly charge. Stepping stones across the Esk and Crunkly Gill woods are right on the doorstep.
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