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Map: Drawn from OS Explorer OL26 North York Moors western area.
Dogs: Illegal.
Date walked: March 2007.
Road Route: North of A170 at Keldholme.
Car Parking: National Park, charges.
Lavatories: Car park.
Refreshments: Pub, The Crown inn and cafes in Hutton-le-Hole.
Tourist & Public Transport Information: Helmsley TIC 01439 770173.
Terrain: Mostly moor.
Points of interest: Eco-loos at car park.
Difficulty: Moderate.
Please observe the Country Code and park sensibly. While every effort is made to provide accurate information, walkers set out at their own risk.
Please click the image below to go to the walking route sketch map and detailed directions, or scroll down to a Google Map of the route, the route description, and an image gallery. Plus you can bookmark this page on your favourite social bookmarking site, and comment on the walk. We hope you enjoy the walk.
Google Map
Please click on "Map" to see a cartographic map view of the route and "Hybrid" to see the combined map and Satellite. "Terrain" shows the contours of land over and around the route.
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The two hikers icon shows the start of the route. Click on the hikers to get the route direction - clockwise or anticlockwise.
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Hutton-le-Hole was once voted the prettiest village in England. On a morning with a chill pre-spring feel there was a trickle of traffic into the carpark. We got a move on and in five minutes were reading a ‘Welcome to the Spaunton Estate’ sign. Spaunton is a little place to the east, the estate is big and today’s walk opens with a mile or so on Spaunton Moor, a grand south facing slope that is as much as anywhere the sunny side of the North York Moors.
We headed north flanking a shallow nameless valley scented with recently burnt and dampened heather, the path joins a private drive, the traffic was lapwing, grouse and PO van, the sound the flute of curlews. The drive leads up to Spaunton Lodge, once a shooting box, now a house well set and sheltered by conifers to the north.
Crossing Hutton Beck involved an easy two steps on somewhat dislocated stepping stones, but note after very heavy rain…
Continuing west now, there's a line of grouse butts, remnants of old ones and new ones of bog standard wooden pallets and along them a convenient strip of mown heather.
Near the end of the line of butts is a super old stone waymark carved on three sides - on the east, in an early eighteenth century vernacular, with 'Road to Pickrin: or: Malton:’ This is a good viewpoint. Unfortunately we couldn’t linger long because heather burning started and a billowing plume of acrid smoke rose close, wafted past and then settled into the valley and onto Spaunton Lodge. Curlews seemed alarmed, we moved on.
On, upwind, and downhill, with the only other traffic of gamekeepers’ machinery, using a stone track called Lund Road that leads direct a mile and steeply down 500 feet to the bottom end of Farndale at Lowna. There were two high buzzards, a nab showed to the left.
In the bottom of the valley a field studies group were out from the Cranedale Centre near Malton. We eyed up Shepherd’s Nab. If it’s a nice day do climb it. We picked a path up to a shallow central saddle via a gully cum track lined with thorn trees.
On the top it is super, mainly flat, with the shapes of pillow mounds in the brittle bracken, these were artificial rabbit warrens probably late medieval. A path has been cut around the edge of the top, so wander. If you know Surprise View at Gillamoor, there’s here, across the valley from it, a similar vantage, but looking more up Farndale and, with vivid contrast, a sighting down into Douthwaite Dale, a length transformed to pristine parkland with a hall.
After your circuit take our neat way off the nab and rejoin the footpath to Hutton-le-Hole, enjoy a few more pleasures – layered hazel hedge, a Quaker house of Arts and Crafts aesthetic, back fields and ice cream, perfect.
Walks: Descriptions 
