The Bridestones ~ Medium Walk

Distance Covered: 1.75 miles   Time to complete walk: 1 hour

Safety Tips: Wrap up well if the weather is windy or cold as you are open to the elements for a long period on this walk. Apply plenty of sun lotion if it is a hot day and take plenty of water

Discover some mysterious rock formations, called the Bridestones in this walk in Dalby Forest. The walk can be short just to see The Bridestones or longer to include open moorland walking. This walk will guide you through the longer version. It will take approximately two hours to complete.

Getting There

From Middlesbrough go up Ormesby Bank, then turn left onto Middlesbrough road. Follow the A171 to Whitby and then take the right turning to Sleights and stay on the A169. Look for the left turning indicated as Dalby Forest Drive. Stay on this road until you see another left turning to Dalby Forest. This will take you into Dalby Forest.  You will reach a toll booth to enter the forest and there is a £7.00 charge to get into the forest.

  

 



 

The Walk

 

                   The Bridestones Walk route

From the Bridestones car park northern side, commence the walk going past the National Trust marker. Take the right turn and then the left fork in the path.

 

Start of walk

 

 

Take the left path

 

You will now climb through the wood. At the right bear right through some birch trees.

 

 

Bear right through the birch trees

 

You will now reach open moorland and the Bridestones will be in sight. Make your way towards them. There are two sets of Bridestones. The low Bride Stones are the ones on the path and you can follow the path further on to see the high Bridestones. The stones themselves are made from sandstone and have been shaped due to weathering. The most distinguishable stone is called the Pepper Pot.

 

 

The Bridestones and the Pepper Pot (above)

 

Continue on until you reach the last of the low bridestones and the path bears left. You can follow this path to reach the high Bridestones for a detour. Otherwise carry on with your walk taking the moorland route to the right.

 

 

Moorland route to the right

 

Carry on this moorland track which eventually meets a larger path to the edge of a regenerating forest. Turn left and follow this path for another 800 metres.

 

 

Path near regenerating forest

 

When you reach the edge of the moor, turn left immediately onto a track, keeping a wire fence on your right.

 

 

Left path

 

You will soon come to a pond. After the pond climb a stile and onto turn left onto the farm  track.

 

 

Stile near a pond

 

Farm track

 

Follow this farm track until you come to a gate approach High Pastures Farm. Go through the gate and immediately to your right go through another gate and

follow the fence on your left.

 

Gate near High Pastures Farm

 

Where the ground falls down into a dip look for a gap on the left and follow the top edge of the enclosure.

 

 

Gap to the left

 

Towards the end of this enclosure veer to the right and drop to a stile in the bottom right corner

 

 

Stile at bottom of enclosure

 

Climb diagonally through the next field to head for a gate which will lead you onto a lane. Turn left and follow the lane to where it dips and beyond this dip is a waymarked track to the left.

 

 

Left track

 

Keep ahead and through a gate into the Low Pastures Farmyard. Pass through the farmyard and look for a signpost to the Bridestones.

 

 

Bridestones signpost

 

Follow this path which descends through fields and into a woodland. Over a stile carry on down and then follow a bend by a cottage.

 

Path to cottage

 

Go left past the front of the cottage, rising to walk away along a grassy path, which later drops to cross a stream.

 

 

Stream crossing

 

Continue by a fence to your left and you will eventually reach the car park.

 

 

 

The Bridestones

 

 

The Bridestones on the North York Moors are North Yorkshire's distinctive but lesser known cousins to the famous Brimham Rocks over near Pately Bridge.
But our local "rocks" are better because when you visit, there will be far fewer visitors to get in the way of your enjoyment!
Because of the "undiscovered" nature of the North York Moors, even in August - high summer on the Moors - you might have the place pretty much to yourself.  And that's why we love this area!
The Bridestones themselves are found in an area of open moorland to the north of Dalby Forest and just off the A169 road to the North of Pickering on the way to Whitby.
According to the geology-boffins, they've been created from  an odd mix of layered soft and hard sandstone which has been weathered into fantastic standing shapes over thousands of years and by the forces of glaciation.
But local folklore for the Bridestones tell of petrified bridal parties lost in the fog that can rapidly descend on the moor.
You decide the truth for yourself.  They certainly have a mysterious and distinctive quality to them - which is hard to put your finger on!
The "Pepperpot" is perhaps the most iconic of all the standing stones and the one most often photographed today.