Things to see and do
Waterfalls and packhorse bridges, steam engines and abbey ruins, tea gardens and moorland viewpoints. Filter by type or by village.
History & heritage
Beggar's Bridge
A graceful 17th-century packhorse bridge built, so the story goes, by a sailor for the sweetheart the river kept him from.
Nature & views
Falling Foss and Midge Hall
A 30-foot waterfall in a wooded gorge, with a tea garden in a woodsman's cottage beside it and a hermit's cave nearby.
Nature & views
Mallyan Spout
The national park's best-known waterfall, a 70-foot curtain of water in a wooded gorge below Goathland.
Railways
North Yorkshire Moors Railway
One of the world's great heritage railways: 24 miles of steam through the moors from Pickering to Grosmont and on to Whitby.
Family days out
The Moors National Park Centre
The national park's main visitor centre, with exhibitions, a café, riverside walks, gardens and a great play area.
History & heritage
Whitby Abbey
The gaunt Gothic ruins on the headland above the harbour, inspiration for Dracula and site of a 7th-century monastery.
Nature & views
Arncliffe Wood
Ancient oak woodland along the Esk, threaded by medieval paved trods, and carpeted with bluebells in May.
Food & drink
Beck Hole
A tiny hamlet in a deep wooded hollow with a quoits pitch and one of the smallest pubs in England.
History & heritage
Captain Cook Memorial Museum
The 17th-century house where the young James Cook lodged as an apprentice, now a museum of his life and voyages.
Nature & views
Danby Beacon
A 299-metre moorland summit with a replica fire beacon and views across the valley to the sea.
History & heritage
Danby Castle
A fortified 14th-century manor that was home to Catherine Parr, and still the seat of a working manorial court.
History & heritage
Duck Bridge
A 14th-century packhorse bridge over the Esk, narrow, humped and still in use by walkers and cyclists.
Family days out
Egton Bridge stepping stones
Two sets of stepping stones across the Esk in the middle of the village, a favourite with children and dogs.
Railways
Goathland Station
The perfectly preserved 1865 station that became Hogsmeade in Harry Potter and Aidensfield in Heartbeat.
Shops & crafts
Grosmont Co-op
A village shop with a difference: an independent co-operative trading in Grosmont since 1867.
Railways
Grosmont Engine Sheds
Walk through Stephenson's 1836 tunnel to watch steam locomotives being maintained and restored.
History & heritage
Hunter's Sty Bridge
A medieval packhorse bridge over the infant Esk, restored by the Victorians in fine Gothic style.
Family days out
Ruswarp Pleasure Boats
Hire a rowing boat or pedalo on a calm stretch of the Esk just upstream of Whitby.
History & heritage
St Hedda's Church
The "Cathedral of the Moors": a richly painted Catholic church holding relics of the martyr Nicholas Postgate.
History & heritage
Wade's Causeway
A mile of mysterious stone causeway across Wheeldale Moor, long called a Roman road, and still argued over.
Attractions
Whitby Harbour and the 199 Steps
Fishing boats, fish and chips, jet shops, the swing bridge and the climb up to St Mary's churchyard.