Lockton - Stain Dale - Bride Stones - Lockton

Sam Roebuck

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The Bride Stones were thought to be so named from a corruption of the Norse word 'Brink' (edge) and they certainly are striking features, on the edges overlooking Dovedale in the North York Moors.

The walk describes a figure-of-eight, starting in the village of Lockton, from where we drop into Stain Dale on the edge of Dalby Forest and soon enter the National Trust land of Bridestones Moor. After turning left into Dovedale, we then climb up to the High Bride Stones before crossing the valley to visit the Low Bride Stones. Look out for diving redstarts around here. From the Low Bride Stones, the walk drops back into Stain Dale through broadleaved woodland (listen for the unmistakable 'spinning coin' sound of the wood warbler) and back along this pretty dale to the bottom of Dovedale and the middle of the figure-of-eight. By the way, 'stain' is an old word for stone or stony.

A higher-level return to Lockton provides magnificent views in all directions.

England - North England - Yorkshire - North York Moors

Features

Birds, Great Views, Hills or Fells, Moor, National Trust, Public Transport, Wildlife, Woodland

5/25/2021 - Sam Roebuck

Thanks for all the lovely comments. I've remeasured the walk just to make sure; it comes out at 9.43km (5.86 miles). However, any walk measured by GPS on a walk will always be a fair bit longer than its map-measured equivalent (for a number of reasons), so I'm happy with that.

5/11/2021 - Bryony Pearson

A lovely and varied walk, a bit of everything. I agree with comments about dogs and stiles, it was fine with our two Cavaliers but would be difficult with a larger dog. Also agree with distance, our GPS made it 6.1 miles, and we had no detours as the instructions were very good! A thoroughly enjoyable walk thank you.

6/23/2019 - John RICHARDSON

I note Mike Dudley's comments about dogs and stiles and would add that we had 4 medium size dogs all fairly agile and we did not encounter any major difficulties, though with bigger or less agile dogs there could have been.

6/23/2019 - John RICHARDSON

This is a fabulous walk with good instructions. There was some livestock, but most of the walk was off the lead for the dogs. Also lots of streams for the dogs too. We thought that 5.6 miles was a bit optimistic. Our thoughts were closer to 6.5 and just over 3 hours.

2/19/2017 - MIKE DUDLEY

Feb 2017 - This potentially is a great walk, particularly if you are, sadly for you, without a dog. However, depending on the size of your dog, there are some very dog-unfriendly stiles. These will inevitably mean lifting your dog over. From 2 to 9 there are also pheasants++ and sheep! The section between 4 & 9 is a very frustrating detour around a property just to cover an otherwise short distance – though of course from the homeowner’s point of view I completely understand the reasons – it’s just that there could at least have been easier gates as opposed to high stiles. Staindale is beautiful, as are the Bridestones with outstanding views – though I would imagine best avoided at weekends and holidays. The alternative is to do Bridestones from within Dalby Forest, but one should not miss out on Staindale. There is a coffee shop in Lockton but only open 'in season', but there is a great pub in Levisham.

8/25/2014 - Penny Hull

We walked this route on 23/8/14 and found several errors in the instructions. It also needs updating in various places (for instance where stiles are now gates). Here are the amendments. Waymark 19 - should say 'go through a kissing gate immediately on your right' Waymark 19 - should say the stream you crossed at waymark 14 NOT 11 Waymark 20 - should say the farm you passed at waymark 13 NOT 9 Waymark 23 - it's not a 'less obvious stile' - it's a clearly marked fingerpost and a fieldgate Waymark 24 - there's only one stile here, not two Waymark 25 - there's no ladder stile (see next comment) Waymark 26 - the ladder stile doesn't exist. Instead you go through a gate and turn left onto the track. The track is made of solid grey concrete so the current picture is incorrect. Apart from the above, it's a very nice walk! Penny

2/24/2010 - Adrian Perkins

Our thanks to Sam Roebuck for updating this walk. Updated February 2010 Adrian (Admin)