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Goathland Station in North York Moors National Park

#6 of 55 sights in North York Moors

Sight · North York Moors National Park

Goathland Station

Goathland Station: steam-age platform, Hogsmeade and Aidensfield on screen

Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Type
Sight
Nearest trail
Right here
Audio stories
6 nearby
  • Parking
  • Restrooms
  • Food
  • Store
DirectionsMap

Hear the audio tour

Goathland Village and Station

Overview

About Goathland Station

Why stop

  • Preserved branch-line atmosphere with strong period detail
  • Excellent platform setting for train photographs

Heads up

  • Crowds build quickly around train arrivals
This is a working heritage station on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, and it looks the part: period buildings, a footbridge over the tracks and steam locomotives pulling in alongside the platform. The station came with the 1865 deviation that replaced the earlier 1836 horse-drawn route, and it still reads as an archetypal country branch-line station, built to handle goods as well as passengers.
Parkwolf’s verdictWhy it is worth a stop

Map

Where it is

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Full map
SightGoathland Station54.40059, -0.71209
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Plan your stop

Before you go

Best time to go

  • Early in the day or a quieter weekday gives calmer platform photographs and a better chance of a seat in the tea room.
  • Softer morning or late-afternoon light suits the station buildings and nameboard shots.
  • Expect the platform and tea room to be busiest as trains arrive and through school and public holidays.

8 active North York Moors alerts

  • ClosureHawnby Bridleway 110 closurePublic Bridleway 25.122/110/1 in Hawnby is closed to pedestrians, cyclists and equestrians because its bridge is unsafe. - The closure is between grid references SE 5309 9073 and SE 5335 9097.Official details
  • ClosureWest Ayton Footpath 1 closurePublic Footpath 1 in West Ayton (Forge Valley) is temporarily closed because its boardwalk is unsafe. - The closure is between SE 9860 8494 and SE 9839 8712.Official details
See all 8 alerts
A park ranger sits on a dash-mounted phone, talking, as Parkwolf’s Tour Guide plays “Army Cutworm Moths: A Grizzly Bear Buffet” on Grand Loop Road below Dunraven Pass in Yellowstone
Parkwolf Tour GuideThe highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.

North York Moors Tour Guide

Your drive to Goathland Station, narrated.

Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for North York Moors National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.

Recorded for this place

Goathland Village and Station
0:00 / 0:30
“You're coming up on Goathland, where sheep graze the village common and the station sits a short walk downhill.”

Plays as you drive up to Goathland Station in the Parkwolf North York Moors Tour Guide.

More stories near here in the app

  • Goathland’s Two Railway Routes
  • Fylingdales’ Vanished Golf Balls
  • Twelve Oaks for Goathland
  • Goathland Before the Cameras
  • 298 audio storiesacross North York Moors’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
  • Wildlife heatmapsfor Eurasian Otter, Red Deer, Grey Seal, and 13 more
  • Works offlinemaps, 126 trails, 65 places, and audio download before you lose signal
  • CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
★★★★★
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
JMJamesApp Store review
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Guide

More about Goathland Station

What to look forThe platform and nameboard, the classic photograph when a locomotive is standing in the station.
  • The platform and nameboard, the classic photograph when a locomotive is standing in the station.
  • Traces of the old goods facilities around the yard area, a reminder that rural stations moved freight as much as people.
  • Trains coming and going, easily the best part of the visit; time your arrival around a service rather than an empty platform.
Tea room and shopThe station tea room occupies a converted 1922 goods shed, with seating inside original goods…
  • The station tea room occupies a converted 1922 goods shed, with seating inside original goods carriages and platform-side tables for watching trains. Expect drinks, savouries, homemade cakes, sweet treats and ice creams. Walkers and dogs are welcome.
  • The station gift shop leans into the screen history, with Harry Potter and Heartbeat merchandise alongside railway souvenirs.
  • The tea room can fill quickly, so it pays to eat before or after the busiest train times.
Walks from the stationThe signposted Rail Trail runs about 3.
  • The signposted Rail Trail runs about 3.5 miles down the old railway line to Grosmont, with the option of returning by heritage train rather than walking back. Check service arrangements before committing to the one-way version.
  • Mallyan Spout, a 70 foot waterfall, is reached by a footpath near the hotel in the village. Wear proper footwear for the walk.
  • The village of Goathland is a short walk uphill, with village shops and pubs, and Beck Hole makes a good longer detour for confident walkers.
Practical notesToilets at the station include ladies, gents and wheelchair-accessible facilities.
  • Toilets at the station include ladies, gents and wheelchair-accessible facilities. Village car parks have their own separate public toilets, which are not the same thing.
  • Parking in the station area is paid, so bring a means of payment and do not assume it is free. Village car parks are also paid.
  • Accessibility varies across the site. Accessible toilets are here, and the railway has accessible carriages and portable ramps, but do not assume every platform, footbridge or service is step-free. If access matters, confirm arrangements before you travel.
  • It is a popular stop with limited indoor space, so plan for a short queue at the tea room and shop at peak times.
Why it is worth a stopScreen fame is part of the appeal.

Screen fame is part of the appeal. The platform stood in as Hogsmeade Station in the first Harry Potter film and featured as Aidensfield in ITV's Heartbeat. Even if neither means anything to you, the atmosphere when a steam train arrives is the reason to come.

railwayheritageharrypotterheartbeatsteamwalking

Wildlife

Wildlife in North York Moors

All North York Moors wildlife maps
Eurasian Otter15 sightingsEurasian OtterMost seen around 7 PMSighting mapRed Deer10 sightingsRed DeerMost seen around 7 AMSighting mapGrey Seal79 sightingsGrey SealMost seen around noonSighting mapWestern Barn Owl26 sightingsWestern Barn OwlMost seen around 7 PMSighting mapEuropean Badger33 sightingsEuropean BadgerMost seen around 7 PMSighting mapMute Swan10 sightingsMute SwanMost seen around noonSighting map

Sighting maps show where each species has been reported across North York Moors. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.

Keep exploring

Near Goathland Station

See it all on the map

Trails nearby

EasyGoathland to Grosmont Rail Trail5.6 km · 1.8 hr · At the trailheadGentle downhill walk along an 1836 railway line to GrosmontEasyGoathland Centenary Walk3.2 km · 1.3 hr · 0.2 km awayGentle two-mile village loop remembering 12 men lost in the Great WarEasyMallyan Spout and Beck Hole4.3 km · 1.5 hr · 0.4 km awayA 70-foot ravine waterfall, then a wooded beck and old railway inclineModerateGoathland & Grosmont Circular12.4 km · 4.3 hr · 0.4 km awayWooded old railway down to Grosmont, then open moorland climb homeModerateGoathland, Mallyan Spout and the Roman Road13.2 km · 4.3 hr · 0.4 km awayWaterfall ravine, open heather moor and an ancient moorland causewayEasyMiles without Stiles (For all) - Esk Valley to Beck Hole4.8 km · 1.2 hr · 3.3 km awayLevel old railway beside the Murk Esk, three bridges to Beck HoleModerateGrosmont to Beck Hole7.6 km · 2.3 hr · 4.1 km awayBluebell woods, riverside valley, then an old railway line homeChallengingGrosmont to Whitby (Esk Valley Walk 4)12.9 km · 3.3 hr · 4.4 km awayValley bridleways and villages from steam railway to Whitby pier

More stops nearby

Sight · 0.5 km awayGoathlandSheep-grazed moorland village with a 70-foot waterfall below itSight · 1.3 km awayMallyan Spout WaterfallSeventy feet of water down a wooded sandstone ravine near GoathlandSight · 4 km awayGrosmont StationEngine sheds, an 1835 tunnel and steam locomotives at workSight · 4.7 km awayWheeldale Roman RoadAncient stone causeway over heather moor, its builders still debatedSight · 5.5 km awayFalling Foss WaterfallA 9-metre fall of water in a steep, wooded valley near WhitbyCampground · 6.2 km awayNorth Yorkshire Moors Club CampsiteQuiet wooded pitches with moorland views and walks from the gateSight · 6.7 km awayBeggar's BridgeHigh-arched 1619 packhorse bridge with a lovers' legend beside the EskSight · 7.6 km awayGlaisdaleStone cottages on a steep Esk Valley hillside, walks below

Parkwolf’s North York Moors ranking

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