Saint Aelred’s Pilgrim Trail

This is the complete 41-mile circular pilgrimage route, normally walked as nine official stages rather than in one push. Total walking time works out at about 22 hours across the whole circuit. Difficulty for the full route is 7/10, mostly because of the sheer accumulation of rural miles, hills, stiles and road sections, not because of any single hard climb.

It starts and finishes at All Saints Church, Helmsley (YO62 5AD), and links the churches of Upper Ryedale and Helmsley with Rievaulx Abbey.

The stages run in this order:

1. Helmsley to East Moors

2. East Moors to Bilsdale

3. Bilsdale to Hawnby

4. Hawnby to Old Byland

5. Old Byland to Scawton

6. Scawton to Cold Kirby

7. Cold Kirby to Rievaulx Abbey

8. Rievaulx Abbey to Sproxton

9. Sproxton back to Helmsley

The walk builds through a string of village churches and reaches Rievaulx Abbey at the end of stage 7, which is the natural high point of the route, before the last two stages bring you back round to Helmsley.

Stages vary a lot in length, so you can pair short ones or take a long stage as a day on its own.

• Stage 1: 6 miles, easy
• Stage 2: 7 miles, moderate
• Stage 3: 5.5 miles, moderate
• Stage 4: 3.5 miles, challenging
• Stage 5: 2 miles, moderate
• Stage 6: 1.5 miles, moderate
• Stage 7: 4.5 miles, moderate
• Stage 8: 7.5 miles, moderate
• Stage 9: 3.5 miles, easy

Underfoot you get village streets, public footpaths, bridleways, farm tracks, river-valley paths, fields, moorland-edge sections and roads. It is not an all-weather surfaced trail, and conditions vary across farmland and tracks.

Road exposure is worth planning for:

Stiles are common on the rural sections. On stage 6 there is a steep path behind the signpost that can be slippery after rain, and an alternative is shown on the official map.

• Stage 2 includes a grass verge beside the busy B1257.
• Stage 3 needs care crossing and walking beside a busy road.
• Stage 8 finishes on a busy road with a grass verge.
• Stage 9 uses roads and village streets.

Dogs may use public rights of way, but not most moorland open-access land, and the frequent stiles make some sections awkward. Keep your dog on a short lead near livestock, never let it chase animals or birds, and use extra lead control from 1 March to 31 July in moorland nesting areas.

There is no single trail car park for the full route, so plan it stage by stage. Start and finish at All Saints Church in Helmsley, and sort out transport between stage ends and accommodation before you set off, especially if you are stringing several stages into consecutive days.

If you mainly want the abbey without committing to the whole pilgrimage, the Helmsley and Rievaulx Abbey circuit is a much shorter 7-mile option.