Mallyan Spout and Beck Hole

A complete circular loop of 2.7 miles from Goathland car park, back to the same car park, with a short road connector at the end to close the ring. Reckon on about 1.5 hours rather than the listed 75 minutes, because the waterfall spur is slow going and you will stop for photos. Total climb is modest, roughly 200 feet spread over the whole loop.

Start on the pavement beside the village road, then drop by the Mallyan Spout Hotel into the wooded valley on steps and through gates. At the lower junction, turn upstream for the short out-and-back spur along the stream edge to Mallyan Spout, a 70-foot fall in a deep ravine that West Beck has cut through sandstone. Back at the junction, follow the boardwalk towards Beck Hole through woodland and fields, climb high above the valley, then descend. At Incline Cottage you join the broad former Whitby-to-Pickering railway incline, which carries you back towards Goathland before crossing the road to the car park.

Rated 3/10 and easy overall, with one clear exception: the final approach to the waterfall is a rocky scramble along the beck and suits sure-footed walkers only. Surfaces on the loop change constantly, from pavement and steps to boardwalk, field path, rocky streamside and the wide, easy railway incline. Wet weather makes the woodland and the waterfall rocks slippery and the field sections muddy, and West Beck can run fast and high after rain. If the beck is up, it is entirely reasonable to skip the spur and still enjoy the valley and incline.

The ravine is the highlight, with the sandstone walls and the water dropping into deep shade. The valley towards Beck Hole is soft, green and enclosed, then the high section gives you the wider view before you drop again. The return leg is a straightforward piece of railway archaeology, a broad engineered incline with former workers' cottages nearby, which makes the walk read as landscape and industrial history in one loop.

Start and finish at Goathland car park, YO22 5LX, which is the official trailhead. Public toilets are listed at the start and finish. Dogs are welcome but keep them under control and on a lead near livestock, and be especially cautious with them near West Beck after rain.

The distance is short, but the two halves are not equal in effort: the waterfall spur is the slowest, roughest and most rewarding part, while the railway incline is easy and a little plain by comparison. If you want a gentler, flatter outing with less scrambling, the Rail Trail towards Beck Hole and Grosmont covers similar corridor scenery without the ravine, and May Beck and Falling Foss is the alternative if you simply want another waterfall walk.