Guisborough Branch Walkway

Forestry England's yellow-waymarked loop from the Guisborough Forest and Walkway visitor centre at Pinchinthorpe, 2.75 miles and about an hour and a half. It opens with a steep pull up through the beech wood behind the car park, then settles onto forest road and track through mixed plantation with Guisborough and the whole of Teesside laid out below. There is no seasonal closure and no blanket lead rule: the Forestry England dog code asks only that dogs are kept close and in sight, and put on a lead if recall is unreliable. The beck gives a drink on the lower section, and the car park is Redcar and Cleveland pay and display, £1.50 up to an hour to £6.00 all day.

The short option from Pinchinthorpe visitor centre, 1.9 miles on orange markers and about three quarters of an hour. It climbs through beech woodland onto the higher forest roads, takes the view out over Guisborough and Teesside, then drops back to the car park. Almost all of it is firm forest road, which makes it the trail to pick after rain or with an older dog, and there is no seasonal closure. The cafe and toilets at the visitor centre stay open until 3pm at weekends and bank holidays when the centre itself is shut.

A self-catering farm cottage at Pinchinthorpe between Great Ayton and Guisborough, on the edge of the National Park boundary. The owners state that families and their well behaved pets are very welcome, without naming a charge or a limit. It sits within a few minutes' walk of the Guisborough Forest and Walkway visitor centre, which puts three waymarked forest loops and the old railway walkway on the doorstep.