Walk · North Yorkshire

Little Beck Wood and the Hermitage

Littlebeck · YO22 5JD
N 440 YD
3.3MILES
1h 31mON FOOT
120mCLIMB
CircularSHAPE
Off-road 85% 15% shares tarmac with cars
Field & moor path 55%Lane & track 30%Road with traffic 15%

Route diagram, drawn from the recorded track — for the shape of the walk, not for navigation. Carry OS Explorer on the hill.

Starts at
YO22 5JD
Directions to the start →

An easy 3.3-mile circular of an hour and a half through the oak and hazel of Little Beck Wood, taking in the Hermitage, a room hollowed out of a single boulder in 1790, a hidden waterfall in the wood and Falling Foss itself, 30 feet of it, at the end. Start from the Midge Hall car park at Falling Foss, signed off the A171 at Red Gate; the tea garden here opens April to September, ten until four. Shaded, enclosed and full of water for a hot dog, though the path runs along a steep bank above the beck in several places and the wooden steps near the falls go greasy in winter.

House rules, decoded

Off-lead OK
REGION · NORTH YORKSHIRE
GRID · 54.4200, -0.6390
SOURCE · HTTPS://WWW.KOMOOT.COM/SMARTTOUR/34923327
Also in Littlebeck
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Falling Foss Tea Garden

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A woodland tea garden beside the Falling Foss waterfall in Sneaton Forest, a few miles inland from Whitby, where dogs 'are more than welcome to join you'. The perfect finish to the May Beck circular with a muddy dog in tow.

VERIFIED 29 JUL 2026 VIEW ›
N 1 MILE
Walk SOME LIMITS

Falling Foss, York Cross and the Hermitage

YO22 5JD
6.4 MI · 2H 53M · 87% OFF-ROAD

A 6.4-mile forest and moorland circular of about three hours with 200 metres of climbing, from the waterfall at Falling Foss up to May Beck, round Newton House Plantation to York Cross on Sneaton High Moor, then back over Leas Head to the Hermitage and the coin-studded wishing tree. Park at Midge Hall by Falling Foss, signed off the Whitby to Scarborough road at Red Gate, or at May Beck a mile to the south; the tea garden beside the falls opens April to September, ten until four. Superb for a dog, with the beck alongside most of the wooded sections and forest track to run on, but the moor crossing is boggy after rain and is nesting ground in spring.

Off-lead OK Livestock — leads on
VERIFIED 29 JUL 2026 VIEW ›
440 YD © OpenStreetMap contributors
Walk SOME LIMITS

May Beck & Falling Foss circular

YO22 5JE
2 MI · 95% OFF-ROAD

A two-mile woodland circuit from the May Beck car park to the 30-foot Falling Foss waterfall, with the tea garden at Midge Hall waiting partway round. Shaded riverside paths follow May Beck back, with gates but no stiles the whole way.

Livestock — leads on
VERIFIED 29 JUL 2026 VIEW ›

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