Parking
Start at Battersby Station. There is no general trail parking; the small station car park is for rail users, and nearby roads are narrow with few spaces. The route is intended to be reached by train.
Overview
About Miles without Stiles (For some) - Ingleby Incline
Why go
- No steps or stiles on the route
- Striking railway history and open views from the incline top
Heads up
- A sustained 1:5 climb makes it hard despite its accessible-category label
- No general parking at the station start
- Rough loose stone above the gate
Strong walkers who want the railway heritage and do not mind a long, steep, unrelenting climb. If you want something genuinely gentler, the Farndale Daffodil Walk is another "For some" out-and-back with a surfaced riverside path, no stiles or steps, and only short challenging gradients.
Parkwolf’s verdictWho it is forMap & elevation
The route
Loading the North York Moors map
Full mapElevation130–416 m
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
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 Miles without Stiles (For some) - Ingleby Incline, 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 area
Kildale Beneath the Church0:00 / 0:32
“Near Kildale's St Cuthbert's Church, the ground holds a much older village than the building you see today.”
Plays on the road 0.8 km from the trailhead in the Parkwolf North York Moors Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- The Incline That Pulled Itself
- A Drum in the Trees
- Easby Moor's Other Memorial
- Kildale Station and Warren Moor Mine
- 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!!!!”
Trail guide
Hiking Miles without Stiles (For some) - Ingleby Incline
The shape of the walkThis is an out-and-back, not a loop. The distance we quote, about 11.5 km / 7.
This is an out-and-back, not a loop. The distance we quote, about 11.5 km / 7.1 miles, is the full return journey from Battersby Station to the picnic bench at the top of the incline and back down the same way. Allow 3.5 to 4 hours with pauses. Total climb on the way up is about 287 m, almost all of it in one sustained pull.
How it goesLeave Battersby Station and head toward the main road, follow it for roughly 365 m, then turn…
Leave Battersby Station and head toward the main road, follow it for roughly 365 m, then turn toward Bank Foot and pick up the public bridleway that becomes a forestry road. Stay on it for about 2.8 km to the foot of the incline. From there you climb the incline itself, with natural breathers at the gate and then at the picnic bench on top, which is your turnaround point. Retrace the whole thing back to the station.
Be honest with yourself about the gradientThe incline is roughly one mile long at about a 1:5 gradient.
The incline is roughly one mile long at about a 1:5 gradient. There are no steps and no stiles, which is why it sits in the Miles without Stiles "For some" category, but the grade alone makes it a hard walk, around 8 out of 10 in practice. It suits fit, confident walkers and, in some cases, very experienced off-road mobility scooter users. It is not a general wheelchair or pushchair route.
SurfaceThe lower part of the incline is firm compacted aggregate and easy to read underfoot.
The lower part of the incline is firm compacted aggregate and easy to read underfoot. Above the gate it gets rougher, with loose stone. The approach is village road and forest road, so expect hard surfaces early and occasional vehicles on the roadside stretch.
History underfootThe incline is a remarkable piece of Victorian railway engineering, built to haul wagons up and…
The incline is a remarkable piece of Victorian railway engineering, built to haul wagons up and down the moor edge. Look for historic benchmarks, sets of initials, and worker carvings in the rock, including the ones known as the Stovepipe Hat and the Bird Man. From the top you get an open view back over the wooded valley and the Cleveland countryside.
Dogs and livestockDogs are welcome but should be on a short fixed lead throughout.
Dogs are welcome but should be on a short fixed lead throughout. The moorland is grazed by sheep and used by ground-nesting birds, and part of the route follows public roads.
Getting hereThere is no parking at the start.
There is no parking at the start. Battersby's roads are narrow with very few spaces, and the small station car park is for rail users. The intended approach is to take the train to Battersby, which also means you finish where you started with no shuttle needed.
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.
