Hole of Horcum Car Park to Skelton Tower

This is an out-and-back walk: 7.2 miles (11.6 km) round trip, with about 307 m of ascent and descent overall, and a typical moving time of around 3 hours 15 minutes. The distance already includes the return leg, so you do not need to double it. It is rated moderate.

• Start at the Saltergate car park beside the A169, on the rim of the Hole of Horcum.
• Follow mapped public paths and short dirt-road sections south and west, around and through the Hole of Horcum and out onto Levisham Moor.
• Reach the ruins of Skelton Tower, a Grade II listed shell perched above Newtondale.
• Turn around and retrace the same route back to the car park.

The Hole of Horcum is a natural amphitheatre roughly 400 feet deep and more than half a mile wide, carved out of the surrounding plateau by erosion and spring sapping at its head. From the rim you look straight into it; once you are on Levisham Moor the reward switches to wide, open moorland and then the tower itself, standing over the steep-sided valley of Newtondale. With a bit of luck and patience you may see and hear a North Yorkshire Moors Railway train working its way along the valley floor below.

The track is roughly 78% path, 14% rougher forested or wild trail and 8% dirt road, with almost no road walking. Most of it is open moorland path, with one shorter, rougher wooded stretch. Because the walk is exposed for long sections, wind, rain, low cloud, mud and uneven ground are all worth planning for. Boots with grip, a windproof layer and a way to navigate in poor visibility make the difference between a good day and a long one.

Saltergate car park sits on the A169 about 7.8 miles north of Pickering and is chargeable. There are two accessible portaloos at the car park and no other facilities anywhere on the walk, so fill water bottles and sort out anything you need before setting off. Permanent toilets are in Pickering and Thornton-le-Dale.

Dogs are allowed on public rights of way here, but across most moorland they must stay on the rights of way and be kept on a short lead or closely to heel. That is down to grazing livestock and ground-nesting moorland wildlife, both of which are easily disturbed.

If you mainly want the Hole of Horcum panorama and not the full outing to the tower, the viewing area near the car park gives you the amphitheatre view for a fraction of the effort. It is a sensible plan if time is short or the weather is closing in on the open moor.