Our drawing of the route — the shape of the walk, not a navigation aid. Carry OS Explorer on the hill.
Saltburn Gill is a fifty-acre ancient woodland SSSI running up a hidden side valley from Saltburn Road towards the playing fields at the Brotton edge, and it is the sheltered alternative when Hunt Cliff is unwalkable. Tees Valley Wildlife Trust, which manages it, states that dogs must be on a lead, that you clear up after them, and that there are no dog waste bins on the reserve at all: bins are in Saltburn and at the playing fields by the Brotton exit, so you carry it the length of the gill. Paths are unsurfaced and uneven with rocks, roots and numerous flights of steps, and there is no access for anything but foot traffic. Nearest parking is the pay and display at Cat Nab, with some free on-street space in Saltburn itself.
The Cleveland Way climbs out of Saltburn from Cat Nab on a surfaced ramp and then runs east along the top of Hunt Cliff, among the highest cliffs on the east coast of England, as far as the gate below Warsett Hill. Tees Valley Wildlife Trust manages the cliff as a nature reserve and its instruction is unambiguous: keep dogs on a lead, clear up after your animals, do not disturb the wildlife. The cliff slope itself has no paths and cannot be entered, and the coast path is unsurfaced, undulating and in places close to an unfenced edge, so this is a short-lead walk rather than a loose one. Kittiwakes and fulmars nest on the face below and the whole of Tees Bay is laid out behind you on the way back.
Self-catering lodges in the grounds of Rushpool Hall on Saltburn Lane, set back in the woods above Skelton Beck about a mile from Saltburn seafront. The operator's own site describes them as dog-friendly self-catering holiday homes, which is the whole of the published policy: no limit on numbers, no charge and no house rules are stated anywhere on the site. The Valley Gardens path runs down through the woods from here to Cat Nab and the beach, so you can walk to the sand without driving. Rushpool Hall itself, the hotel in the same grounds, publishes no dog policy at all and is a separate booking.
Saltburn's sand sits below Marine Parade with the pier and the cliff lift on it and Hunt Cliff rising at the eastern end. The dog exclusion under the borough PSPO covers only the middle of it, described by the council as running from the point of access to the beach at Hazelgrove east to the eastern side of the pier, and it applies from 1 May to 30 September. That leaves two stretches open all year: west of the Hazelgrove access the sand runs unbroken towards Marske, and east of the pier the beck mouth, Cat Nab and the sand under Hunt Cliff are not covered at all. During the closed months the council states dogs are still welcome on a lead along the promenade. Fines are £100 on the spot and up to £1,000 in court; the order runs to 30 June 2028. Cat Nab car park at the foot of Saltburn Bank is the useful one and is full by ten on a summer weekend.
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