Falling Foss ~ Medium Walk

Distance Covered: 2.5 miles   Time to complete walk: 1h 30m

Safety Tips: Take a walking stick - an essential in muddy weather

One of my favourite walks, this woodland walk takes you to the spectacular Falling Foss waterfall, and the tea gardens above the waterfall - a hidden gem. Along the way you will come across The Hermitage a sandstone refuge but the walk is worth doing just for experiencing the Falling Foss waterfall for the first time.

Getting There

You need to follow the A171 road to Whitby and go past Whitby and look for the B146 turning which is a right turn and then when on this road take a very sharp left to be on the May Beck Farm Road- follow this road down until you reach a car park which is the starting point for the walk.

The Walk

From the car park cross the bridge and then turn downstream  along a signed footpath to Falling Foss. The path rises and passes through a gate into thicker woodland and then crosses a side stream. At a fork in the path bear left returning to May Beck at a ford. Carry on a little further to a stone bridge.

Continue North and cross over the wooden bridge below:

 

 

                                     Falling Foss Walk route
You will pass in front of Midge Hall which is also the home of the Falling Foss tea rooms - definitely stop in the summer when its open for a pot of tea and sandwiches with the waterfall as its backdrop.

                       Falling Foss waterfall
Forking left beyond Midge Hall you will find a grand view of the Falling Foss waterfall. Stop for as long as you like before sticking with the main path above. You will come to a junction on the path and go left where the sign is signed to Littlebeck.

Follow this path which passes through another junction until you come to The Hermitage.

                        
                              The Hermitage

Have a look inside the building which is made of sandstone and sit on the bench inside - handy if it starts to rain to take shelter. Perched above The Hermitage are a couple of  "chairs"- sit in one and make a wish in the other to make it come true according to local folklore. The initials above The Hermitage belong to George Chubb who was a schoolteacher in the nearby village of Littlebeck.

Turn around as if to retrace your steps but instead immediately bear right. on the path to descend to the stream below. Cross the bridge over May Beck but ignore a second bridge later on and instead follow a path climbing from the valley. At it reaches its crest it swings right falling to cross a side brook. The path then winds on to meet a gravel track.

You can revisit Falling Foss from here (its worth another look) otherwise the way back to the car park is to the right. Abandon the path almost immediately  in favour of a path on the left that meanders through the wood. Ignore two stiles you come across and on the third stile you encounter which is beside a bridle gate, go through this gate and descend the path back to the car park.


Falling Foss

After heavy rainfall, Falling Foss is a spectacle. Its over 50 foot high. The nearby cottage Midge Hall  was built by Sir James Wilson for his gamekeeper, but at the beginning of the 20th century was opened by Mrs Robinson as a tea room. After years of dereliction and a brief spell as a museum, it has been restored and once again offers tasty home cooked hospitality to walkers who are passing through.