Spiers Bank and High Lane, Cropton Forest

A small farm site above Cropton village with pitches, hook-ups and views over Rosedale. Pets are very welcome and there is ample ground for walking and exercise straight from the field.

Nearly nine miles with 250 metres of ascent and around four hours, crossing from Cropton to the earthwork ramparts of the Cawthorn Roman camps and on to the village pond at Newton-on-Rawcliffe before the return through forest; the camps are open grass and easy, but the wooded descents into the becks are steep and greasy for most of the winter. It starts in Cropton by the New Inn, which brews its own beer and welcomes dogs, and roadside parking in the village is free but tight, so the small car park at the Cawthorn camps is a reasonable alternative start. There is water at the beck crossings and at Newton pond, the forest tracks are broad and excellent for a dog to range on, but the camps are a scheduled monument grazed by sheep and the fields between Cropton and Cawthorn carry stock too.

A 5.2-mile circuit with 130 metres of ascent, about two and a quarter hours, dropping from the village past the grassy motte of Cropton Castle to the River Seven and back through the forest edge at Hob Bank Wood; the riverside path is slippery clay in winter. Start in Cropton village, where there is roadside parking near the New Inn, and the Forestry England car park at Cropton Forest, postcode YO18 8ES, is a short drive away if the village is full. The Seven runs shallow and clear for swimming, the forest tracks take a dog off the lead happily, but the field sections between village and river are grazed and there are two awkward stiles.