The Goathland waterfalls walk is a North York Moors classic but for some extra interest, add a loop up to Yorkshire’s mini grand canyon
THE WALK
1Turn left out of the car park and descend towards Goathland station. Cross the railway line and turn left and up signed to Goathland Moor (not Darnholme). Soon join a broad track coming in from your right. Stay on it to cross the moor and reach the road.
2 Cross the road and continue ahead along a grassy track to Whinstone Ridge. Descend into the dip and turn left to walk along then up and out of it. Turn left and follow what soon becomes a tarmac lane that returns you to the road.
3 Turn right onto the road and, after 300m, fork left onto a track leading to Hawthorn Hill Farm. As you approach the farmhouse, bear right and follow the path around the farm, keeping the wall on your left.
4 At the wall corner follow the path through bracken to the left of the large sycamore in a walled enclosure. The descent gets much steeper as you near the railway viaduct with a footbridge under it. Just before the bridge turn right and follow the path to and past Lins Farm, after which the path becomes a track. Bear left at Hall Farm and descend along its access road. Turn sharp left to cross the rail bridge and pass through the hamlet of Beck Hole.
5 To divert to Thomason Foss, follow the out and back signed footpath. Look for the fingerpost just before the river bridge beside the post box. Cross the river bridge and then, after the Birch Hall Inn, turn right through a gate and down a path leading to the route of the old railway line. Turn left onto it then almost immediately turn right signed to Mallyan Spout.
6 After viewing the waterfall, retrace your steps for 130m then turn right up steps signed to Goathland. At the road turn left and follow the road back into the village centre.
Accessing Thomason Foss. Looking at the map you may be tempted to try reaching Thomason Foss from the east, starting at a footbridge under the railway viaduct (see point 4), and thereby avoid the diversion from Beck Hole (see above). An unofficial path 30m to the west of the footbridge within open access land branches off left from the marked footpath down through the trees eventually reaching the Foss but it’s narrow, steep and hazardous, particularly in wet conditions.
COMPASS POINTS
START/FINISH: Goathland, YO22 5LX, grid ref NZ 833 013
TIME/DISTANCE: 4 hours/10km
ACCESSIBILITY: The final approach to Mallyan Spout involves scrambling over sometimes slippery boulders
MAPS: OS Landranger 94 Whitby & Eskdale, OS Explorer 27 North York Moors eastern area
