Best time to go
- Tide: arrive on a low or falling tide for fossil hunting and rockpools
- Time of day: early gives the best shot at lower parking
- Season: shoulder season means fewer people on the sand and easier parking
Overview
About Runswick Bay
Why stop
- Low-tide rockpools and Jurassic fossils
- Sheltered water for swimming and paddling
Heads up
- Steep climb between the clifftop and beach
Map
Where it is
Loading the North York Moors map
Full mapPlan your stop
Before you go
Best time to go
Parking and facilities
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
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
North York Moors Tour Guide
Your drive to Runswick Bay, 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
Runswick Bay0:00 / 0:31
“You're nearing Runswick Bay's Bank Top, above a sandy beach backed by old fishermen's cottages. The village and shore are downhill from here, so leave some energy for the steep walk back.”
Plays as you drive up to Runswick Bay in the Parkwolf North York Moors Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- When Kettleness Moved Uphill
- The Small Fin at Sea
- Port Mulgrave's Ironstone Harbour
- The Women Who Launched the Lifeboat
- 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!!!!”
Guide
More about Runswick Bay
The settingA curved sandy shoreline sits beneath a steep hillside packed with former fishermen's cottages.
A curved sandy shoreline sits beneath a steep hillside packed with former fishermen's cottages. A white-painted thatched building near the shore was once the Coastguard house. Access between the village and the beach is steep, so allow time and wear footwear you can walk down and back up in.
Water and rockpoolsThe bay is sheltered, and the water is often suitable for swimming, stand-up paddleboarding and…
The bay is sheltered, and the water is often suitable for swimming, stand-up paddleboarding and kayaking. At low tide, rockpools open up along the shore for close-up looking at small marine life.
Fossils and Hob HolesThe cliffs and foreshore expose Jurassic shales roughly 150 million years old.
The cliffs and foreshore expose Jurassic shales roughly 150 million years old. Finds from these beds include:
A low or falling tide gives the most beach to search and the safest margin for getting back. Hob Holes, a set of caves at the far headland, are best viewed from a distance because of rockfall risk.
- Ammonites and belemnites
- Fossil tropical ferns
- Rare marine reptile remains
WalkingThe Cleveland Way runs through the village, so you can link the bay into a longer coastal route.
The Cleveland Way runs through the village, so you can link the bay into a longer coastal route.
For a shorter option, a 2-mile, mostly level clifftop walk begins at the upper car park:
- Views over the bay and along to Port Mulgrave
- One kissing gate
- Shallow steps, with an alternative route around them
- No descent to the village or beach, so pair it with a separate trip down if you want sand time
A village rebuiltThe settlement standing today exists because of disaster: a ground-slip in 1664 carried away…
The settlement standing today exists because of disaster: a ground-slip in 1664 carried away the earlier village, which was then rebuilt on its present site. Fishing later dominated, with more than 20 herring boats working from here in the 1840s. Within a century, that industry had disappeared, leaving the cottages and the shape of the village as its record.
Practical notesCheck the tide before walking out toward the headland, and turn back well before the water…
- Check the tide before walking out toward the headland, and turn back well before the water closes off your route
- Keep clear of cliff bases and cave mouths where loose material can fall
- Loose fossils in the shingle and on the beach are easier and safer to find than anything dug from the cliff face
- Dogs: keep them under close control near cliff edges, on the steep village access and around rockpools, and carry water for warm days
Suggested plan1. Park up top and take the clifftop walk out toward Port Mulgrave and back
1. Park up top and take the clifftop walk out toward Port Mulgrave and back
2. Walk down into the village and past the thatched former Coastguard house
3. Reach the beach as the tide falls for rockpools and fossil searching
4. Finish with a swim or paddle in the sheltered water before the climb back up
Wildlife
Wildlife in North York Moors
15 sightingsEurasian OtterMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
10 sightingsRed DeerMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
79 sightingsGrey SealMost seen around noonSighting map
26 sightingsWestern Barn OwlMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
33 sightingsEuropean BadgerMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
10 sightingsMute SwanMost seen around noonSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across North York Moors. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
