Harrogate Ringway - Knaresborough to Knaresborough (★★☆☆☆)

I have been looking for walks that would fit within a winter time-frame - and being a 20 mile walk that was easy to get to the Harrogate Ringway had always been on the back of my mind to try.

Normally on these writeups I follow a pattern of writing up the walk, and then at the end giving a quick bit of feedback about why I gave it the rating I did - but having been quite harsh with my score in the title, it is probably best to address the 2-star rating of this walk fairly early.

The walk itself, as you will find below, hits a lot of good locations and initially is a good walk - but the overall route gets let down by too many sections that aren't great walking. 

There were highlights, but overall for me I wouldn't choose to do the route as set out again - and I think there are much better walks out there. That said, I do think that a modified route would offer a nice stretch of walking - and I have flagged where I would make changes to the planned route as we head through.

But today this walk in Knaresborough - which is a good spot for walking, with a lot of very good paths in the area immediately around the town. And it is also quite a photogenic town.

Down by the River Nidd

A picture I took last summer

From here we cross over the River Nidd (on the photographed bridge) - and then head out along a cycle trail.

This gives a nice dry start to what is otherwise a fairly wet day (it is not raining today, but as is always the case in winter, there is always a certain amount of groundwater about) - and we soon find ourselves dropping off this cycle trail to head down towards the River Nidd itself.

Here we get to enjoy a lovely stretch of walking, as we head out along the Nidd Gorge, enjoying both the woods and the river - as we head out along towards Nidd Viaduct.

Dropping down towards the river

Reaching Nidd Viaduct

From below

This section of the walk is very good - and here it is hard here not to be tempted to look at the path over the viaduct, which can take you on towards Ripley - and then out either towards Fountains Abbey and Studley Park, or across to Brimham Moor and Pateley Bridge.

And here I am tempted by the idea of getting the bus out to Ripon, and then looking to come back to Knaresborough via Fountains Abbey and Studley Park - before coming back over the viaduct and completing this section of this walk.

And indeed the viaduct can be walked over, because whilst it was the original route of the Leeds & Thirsk railway - which was fully completed in 1848, with an extension up towards Stockton following in 1852 - there are no trains running along the viaduct any more.

These days the section of the Leeds & Thirsk railway between Leeds and Harrogate remains operational (and indeed the train I caught to Knaresborough continued on to Leeds along this route) - but the line used to head over the Nidd Viaduct, and on towards Ripon and Thirsk.

But whilst this line initially terminated at Thirsk Town station (where the big Tescos now is for those that know Thirsk), the extension branched off prior to reaching Thirsk - and continued on up to Northallerton, where it could cut under the current East-Coast Mainline - before heading off to Stockton, via Yarm.

North of Yarm, the Leeds & Thirsk Railway - rebranded as the Leeds Northern Railway once it got extended beyond Thirsk - joined up with the rest of the railway network at Eaglescliffe (where it met up with the Stockton & Darlington Railway).

The most northern part of the extension (between Northallerton and Eaglescliffe), remains in use today - but the connecting section between Harrogate and Northallerton was fully closed in 1969 (with travelers like myself today, now changing at York train station).

Over the years there have been attempts to reopen the line between Ripon and Harrogate, whilst Network Rail remains keen on the reopening on the complete stretch of track up towards Northallerton - as it would offer a diversionary route for the East Coast Mainline.

But today and in the immediate future, you are still free to wander across the Viaduct - but here we instead loyally continue to follow the Harrogate Ringway as it takes a muddy route under the Viaduct - and then up a very muddy path along the edge of the Sewerage Works.

This route is not ideal - as it sits at the base of a slope, as is by design going to capture a lot of water - and here it would be better to use the permissive route, and then the unofficial track, that passes over the route of the old trainline. 

But in any case, the route soon heads along the edge of Bilton, before cutting across to Knox, where we follow a minor road out - before crossing over the A61 (it was easy to get across).

From here we follow a farm track, which takes us southwards towards Jennyfield - from which we head through the housing estate, before picking up a track that heads alongside a stream (along the edge of the golf course).

Heading down to the stream

An old bridge

After spending a bit of time following this stream, we head up the valley to the houses above - and briefly cut along a quiet road, before crossing over a busier road.

And from here we head out following the line of Birk Crag - once again taking on an enjoyable section of path.

Heading up steps

Some of the (many) rocks

Crossing over toward Harlow Carr

After this stretch, we closing in on the furthest end of Harlow Carr.

Up until this point, this has been a really enjoyable walk - but from here on, the paths have particularly bad drainage, and there isn't all that much to get excited about. So there is a lot of downside, and not much in the way of upside.

So - I would instead recommend following the Harrogate Link from here to Harrogate. From there you can follow the cycle route back to Nidd Viaduct, and then head back to Knaresborough - with the option of branching off over the viaduct to explore the pretty village of Ripley.

As it is though, we do keep going - tracking along the far end of Harlow Carr - before doing some road walking until we reach the village of Beckwith.

From here it is a wet and muddy trek across the fields until we reach Pannal - after which we resume a wet and muddy walk along Crimple Beck to Almsford Bridge.

Passing some sheep

Exiting the woods at 'The Warren'

From Almsford Bridge, we cut through an area of housing - past some very large, and impressive houses - until we head out across the existing railway, with views out towards Crimple Viaduct.

Then from there we drop down (along another wet and muddy section) towards (and then under) the route of a now abandoned section of railway - with that former railway route having formerly provided a more direct route between Pannal and Knaresborough (without cutting up into Harrogate).

Looking out towards Cimple Viaduct

Meeting up with the now abandoned Low Cimple Viaduct

The abandoned Low Crimple Viaduct was part of the Leeds & Thirsk Railway - and from here the trains would have headed up to Starbeck, before passing over the Nidd Viaduct. 

And in many ways it is a shame that this viaduct does not also operate as a cycle route - for it could potentially provide a good route back to Knaresborough.

As it is though, the Harrogate Ringway now takes on a rather bizarre route, where we head on along the verge of a busy road - which takes about 10 minutes to cross as I patiently wait for a gap in the traffic - before heading along a farm track, which carries us on up to Calcutt.

From Calcutt it is not much further before we cross over the River Nidd once more, and start to walk back through Knaresborough to our train home.

Overall this was a walk that started well - with very good stretches around Knaresborough and coming up to Harlow Carr.

But beyond the section at Harlow Carr, the walk felt like one that was devised by someone in an office with a highlighter pen, rather than by someone showing off their favorite walking routes - and I'm not sure that later section of the loop justifies being part of a named trail.

In general the internet seems to disagree with me though, with lot of positive reviews for the trail - but I found the route a little disappointing. That said, I do think it would be possible to create a better trail by focusing on the better sections of the countryside in the area.

Total Distance: 20.0 miles

Total Ascent: 2,001 feet

Enjoyment Rating : ⭐⭐ ★ ★ ★ / 5

Disclaimer: This writeup provides a narrative of what to expect rather than a route guide to follow. The route is covered by the 104 OS Landranger map (links redirect to Amazon). The waymarkings are not always clear so you need to keep an eye out for key junctions.