Reeth Low Common

A 4 km (2.5 mile) circular walk straight from Reeth village green, with a short shared stretch of road down to Reeth Bridge and back at the end. Allow about 1.5 hours, and treat it as a practical 4/10: it is low level, but not a stroll.

• Leave the green and walk down the road to Reeth Bridge, crossing the road with care.
• Over the bridge, then across open fields toward High Fremington.
• Bear left briefly up a tarmac road, then turn left by the first house onto a steep, unmarked, rocky walled lane.
• At the top, join the bridleway signed to Arkengarthdale 4 for roughly 800 m.
• Through a fieldgate onto the open common, continue to a junction beside a wall.
• Take the left-hand footpath down toward a field barn, then through valley-bottom meadows back to Reeth Bridge and the green.

The walled lane is the crux: rocky, steep and often greasy, with mud, slippery rock and exposed tree roots. The meadow return brings a series of narrow stiles and gates, which is slow going with dogs, small children, or anyone who dislikes squeezing through stonework. Boots, not trainers.

Broad views over Reeth and the dale, dry-stone walls and field barns, the bulk of Fremington Edge, and the open sweep of Low Common. Look for traces of an old stone-paved lead-mining way underfoot on the higher ground, and old quarry workings visible from the meadows. In August the moorland tops turn purple with heather, which is the best single reason to time a visit.

Park at Reeth Village Centre on the cobbles, which is also the start. Reeth has toilets, shops, pubs and cafes, and Reeth National Park Centre sits in Hudson House. Bus 30 runs from Richmond if you would rather not drive.

Dogs are welcome on the public rights of way here. Keep yours on a lead around livestock, and on a short lead from March through July for ground-nesting birds. There is livestock in the fields and on the common, so plan for lead work most of the way.

Want the same low-level length without the steep rocky lane and the stile-heavy finish? The separate Reeth and Healaugh circular is the gentler, more riverside-focused choice.