Great Ayton to Danby
Distance:
13 miles, 21 km
Description:
Great Ayton to Danby
A journey of discovery that takes you from the edge of the Cleveland Plain right into the heart of the North York Moors. The going is mostly easy, on gently undulating country lanes, with one off-road section to keep you on your toes! Enjoy the views over Eskdale, get a taste of the area's unspoilt villages, and finish your trip off with a visit to The Moors National Park Centre.
TIME: 2-3 hours
DIRECTIONS: GREAT AYTON TO DANBY
Start opposite the church in Great Ayton. Pedal 30 metres or so down the A173 in the direction of the river and go over the bridge. When the road bends, take the first L onto Easby Lane by a red pillarbox and a garage with red doors.
The road passes through a residential area and out into open country. Continue for about 2 miles, with a fine panorama of the Cleveland Hills in front of you. Pass a farm on the R. At the first T-junction, turn L and follow the road into the hamlet of Easby.
Leave Easby on the same road. The Captain Cook monument on Easby Moor is visible through trees on your L. Go past a North York Moors National Park sign and under a railway bridge.
The road bends sharply to the L and passes under the railway again. After roughly 2 miles, enter Kildale.
Go through the village and continue along the bottom of the dale. Cross the railway. The road dips steeply to cross a beck, then climbs again. Carry on with moorland to your L, a drystone wall on your R. After about 4 miles, arrive in Commondale.
Take R turn down narrow lane by the Cleveland Inn, signposted to railway station. Fork L by Foul Green Holiday Cottages. Ignore gated turning on R to station and continue straight on through another gate. Remember to close the gate behind you. Road veers L next to bungalow and becomes rough track.
Pass through another gate and descend steeply, passing cottages on your R. The track continues past Box Hall and then begins to climb, crossing a cattle grid and meeting the road as it starts downhill into Castleton.
Turn right and go down the hill past the station for a further crossing of the railway and the River Esk near the Eskdale Inn. Climb back up from the river into Castleton village. At the junction with the main street next to a corner tearooms, take a L.
Freewheel down to a bridge over a beck and go R immediately afterwards, signposted to Ainthorpe. Keep going through the village and over a bridge with an old mill on L, then follow the road into Danby village. The route ends at the Duke of Wellington Inn.
DIRECTIONS: DANBY TO GREAT AYTON
Start at the Duke of Wellington Inn in Danby village. Go down the main street towards the river, cross the bridge by the old mill and follow the road round into Ainthorpe. Pass through the village and keep going on the same road until you reach a T-junction. Turn left, crossing a beck, and head uphill into Castleton.
In the village, take a R turn by the tearooms in the direction of the railway station and follow the road down to the River Esk. Pass the Eskdale Inn on your L, go under the railway, and head up the hill. As the road swings round to the R, take a L turn down a farm track. Cross a cattlegrid and continue down the hillside to Box Hall.
Go past cottages on your L. The track climbs and then levels out, passing through a couple of gates and eventually bringing you to a bungalow, where it becomes a tarmacadamed lane.
Go through another gate and go straight down the lane past Foul Green Holiday Cottages and into Commondale village. Turn left on the road past the Cleveland Inn, head up the hill and along the road with moorland on your R, a drystone wall on your L. The road dips steeply to cross a beck, then continues along the dale bottom to arrive in the village of Kildale.
Leave Kildale on the same road. It passes under a railway bridge and veers sharply R. A little further on, go under the railway again. The Captain Cook monument on Easby Moor becomes visible on your R through trees. Enter the hamlet of Easby.
Follow the road out of Easby and continue until you see a turning on your R, signposted to Great Ayton. Take this turning and follow a wide lane through farmland to arrive after about 2 miles in Great Ayton.
FACILITIES
Pubs in Great Ayton, Kildale, Commondale, Castleton, Ainthorpe and Danby
Tearooms in Great Ayton, Kildale, Commondale, Castleton, and Danby
Accommodation
- View Accommodation in Whitby
- View Accommodation in Great Ayton
- View Accommodation in Danby
- View Accommodation in Ainthorpe
