Our drawing of the route, over road and path data from OpenStreetMap. It shows where the walk goes and what it goes through. It is not a survey and not a navigation aid — carry OS Explorer on the hill.
Eight miles of the northern arc of the waymarked Knaresborough Round through three quiet estate villages, three and a half hours, almost all of it flat field path and green lane with a scattering of stiles and one long farm track. Start at the Chain Lane car park in Knaresborough and walk out past Scriven; the number 1 bus from Harrogate stops in the town centre, and there is a pub at Ferrensby roughly halfway if you want a break. This is proper working farmland, with sheep the year round and cattle on the Farnham fields in summer, so it is a lead-on walk for most of its length; there is no open water to speak of, and the clay field paths hold water badly, making this a summer and early autumn route rather than a January one.
Two miles each way of fully surfaced, traffic-free path along the Nidd from High Bridge in Knaresborough out to Bilton Hall Drive, resurfaced in 2013 and effectively flat, which makes it one of the few routes in the district that stays clean and firm right through winter. Start at High Bridge on the Ripon Road below the town, five minutes from Knaresborough station, and at the far end it links straight into Bilton Lane and the Nidderdale Greenway for a longer day. Named after the Yorkshire cycling champion, it is shared with bikes and horses and passes fields of grazing horses and a couple of cattle grids, so keep dogs on the lead and close in; the surface is kind on old joints and takes a buggy or wheelchair without complaint.
A famously narrow multi-storey ale house on Knaresborough market place, in the Good Beer Guide for more than thirty consecutive years. It describes itself as a cosy, dog-friendly pub, with a clean water bowl and doggy treats kept on the bar and no objection to a dog on the stairs.
Four miles down both banks of the Nidd below the town, an hour and three quarters, largely level riverside path with a short flight of steps at Waterside and a stretch of woodland that gets slippery when wet. Start from the pay-and-display car park at Conyngham Hall, which is signed off the A59 and never quite fills, and Knaresborough station is a ten-minute walk away on the Leeds to York line. Dogs can run the whole riverside once you are past the Waterside cafes, the Nidd here is deep and slow with easy shelving entries for a swimmer, and there is no livestock; the far bank below Grimbald Bridge floods after heavy rain, in which case turn it into an out-and-back rather than wading.
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