Bridestones and Dovedale Walk

This is a closed circular loop, starting and finishing at Saltergate, measured as 12.8 km / about 8.0 miles for the complete loop rather than one-way. Allow around 3 hours 20 minutes at a steady walking pace. It is the larger Bridestones and Dovedale walk, not the separate short 1.5-mile Bridestones Trail that begins at Bridestones Car Park.

The payoff is variety in one circuit: open moor at both ends, a sheltered stream valley in the middle, and two separate groups of rock formations.

• Leave Saltergate on Old Wife's Way and the track across Newgate Moor toward Bridestones Nature Reserve.
• Visit High Bride Stones, then descend through Bridestone Griff, crossing small streams and footbridges into Dove Dale.
• Follow the grassy valley beside the beck, then woodland and field-edge tracks to Staindale Lake and a circuit of the water.
• Return toward the Bridestones area, climb through woodland to Low Bride Stones, recross the reserve and retrace Old Wife's Way to Saltergate.

Moderate overall, about 5 out of 10, with roughly 179 m of ascent and the same descent. Sampled mapped elevations run from about 141 m to 283 m. Steep gradients, tree roots, rocks, cobbles and uneven ground turn up on the opening stretch and through the woodland sections. Expect forest and bridleway tracks, grassy moorland, cobbled and rocky woodland paths, gates, and stream and footbridge crossings. This is not a wheelchair or pushchair outing; level access around the destination is limited and the terrain beyond it is steep and uneven.

The loop links heather moorland, grassy tracks, ancient woodland, wildflower-rich meadows, a wooded stream valley and Staindale Lake. The Bride Stones themselves are layered Jurassic sandstone, weathered into the shapes that give the reserve its name.

Start from Saltergate car park beside the A169 at Hole of Horcum. The route sets off along the verge and bridleway before joining Old Wife's Way. The A169 is a busy road, so keep children and dogs close on that first short stretch.

Dogs are allowed under close control. On moorland and open access land they must be on a lead shorter than 2 m from 1 March to 31 July, and also around livestock or wildlife.

Walkers who only want to see the rock formations can take the much shorter Bridestones Trail from the forest car park instead. This longer circuit is for a fuller moorland and valley day.