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North Yorkshire Moors - Hazel Head

This is a beautiful circular (well, triangular) walk in a little known part of the North Yorkshire Moors. Total length is under 3kM and the three nearly equal sections are all quite different in character. First section is through woodland alongside a river to the ford where the Roman Road once crossed, at map reference SE 813 91. Then there is a climb up through Hazel Head Farm to the start of the moorland path, at SE 807 997s. The third section is south west along a moorland track to the road at SE 801 993 and so back along 200m of quiet road to the car.

There are many other walks at this point: from the car park to the west there is access to the moors and Bumble wood. To the east from the ford the footpath continues to Gill View and Hunt House, where there is a car park which can be accessed from Goathland. From a point 300m north of Hazel Head Farm another footpath cuts across to the north end of Scar wood. From there a footpath is shown due south to the Hunt House road.

A streetmap.co.uk search by map reference will indicate the start of this walk, where the Wheeldale Road crosses Wheeldale Gill at map reference SE 801 991 (1:50,000 Landranger map 94).

Wheeldale Road is a back road (so not very well surfaced!) which is, however, quite passable, lying almost due north-south, between Rawcliffe Howe (about 7mK north of Pickering) and Egton Bridge which is about 2.5kM west of Grosmont, the northern end of the North Yorkshire Moors Railway.

You will only find Wheeldale Road if you use a map (best is Explorer map OL27) as it is barely signposted, so it is not busy and is a pleasant drive in its own right, with several nice picnic stops and interesting walks. It also gives access to the Roman Road, which is a sign-posted tourist attraction. This walk touches the ford where the Roman Road crossed the rivers, at the point Wheeldale Beck and Wheeldale Gill merge to become West Beck (map reference SE 812 991).

In the valley where the walk starts there is plenty of unfenced area for parking, and an information board for the walk which starts on the west side of the road.

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