Route diagram, drawn from the recorded track — for the shape of the walk, not for navigation. Carry OS Explorer on the hill.
Seven and a quarter miles with 270 metres of ascent, three and a half hours, running north along the escarpment to Whitestone Cliff then dropping through Garbutt Wood to the glacial lake at Gormire and round the wooded cone of Hood Hill; the descent is steep and rooty. Start from the Sutton Bank National Park Centre, which has pay-and-display parking, a cafe and water taps for dogs. The lake is the one true swimming spot on this side of the moors and the woods take a dog off the lead well, but Garbutt Wood is a Yorkshire Wildlife Trust reserve where leads are asked for, and the cliff top above it is unfenced with a 200-metre drop.
A three-mile there-and-back (or longer eight-mile circuit on the Cleveland Way) along the escarpment edge from the Sutton Bank National Park Centre to the great turf-cut White Horse above Kilburn, with the Vale of York spread out below. Dogs are welcome throughout, but keep them on a lead along the escarpment path - it follows an unfenced cliff edge and skirts the gliding club's landing field - and near grazing sheep. The dog-friendly centre cafe bookends the walk nicely.
The cafe at the Sutton Bank National Park Centre, perched on the escarpment above what James Herriot called the finest view in England. Dogs are welcome at the cafe (currently trading as The Truffled Hog), and there is plenty of outdoor seating for muddy-pawed parties fresh off the White Horse or Cleveland Way paths. Bike hire and a National Park shop share the site.
One short email when we add places or a council changes its beach rules. No noise, easy out.
NO SPAM · UNSUBSCRIBE ANY TIME · WE NEVER SELL THE LIST
Wagfinder Members · Coming soon
NO PAYMENT NOW · FIRST IN WHEN DOORS OPEN · EASY OUT