Bowlees - Newbiggin - Hardberry Hill - Coldberry Moor

A challenging walk with extremes of terrain including sedate riverside paths, stiff testing climbs up onto the moor and ending with a delightful downhill walk through a charming coniferous wood. Although this is graded as a moderate walk because of its length, some sections are most certainly in the strenuous category.

The walk starts from the Bowlees Visitor Centre and heads down to the River Tees where the route crosses a suspension bridge over the river downstream of Low Falls. The route then hugs the churning river before re-crossing the river over a railed footbridge to intersect the village of Newbiggin. The terrain now starts to rise steeply up through grazing fields and lanes onto Open Access Land to arrive alongside the trig point on Hardberry Hill. Just over the wall here is the huge man made gash in the side of the hill called Coldberry Gutter a legacy of the lead mining era in this former lead rich part of the North Pennines. The route then starts the descent off the hill to pass through the former lead processing area including the derelict admin building on the slopes of Hudes Hope valley. From the valley floor a very strenuous climb back up onto the moor follows to the highest point of the walk before the route descends off the western flanks of the moor to leave the Open Access Land and pass through a couple of typical white painted Teesdale farmsteads. The approach and exit to and from the second farm includes a couple of steep sided gullies. The final lap down through a coniferous wood back to Bowlees is an absolute pleasure.

England - North England - Durham - Teesdale

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Walk id: 7776

Walk grade

Moderate Walk

Length

7.6 Miles

Height gain

501 Metres

Duration

3 Hours 53 Mins

Average rating

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