Hawset Riggs

The walk up Hawset Riggs rewards you with proper views across the Ripon area - nothing fancy, but the kind of outlook that makes you understand why people stick around North Yorkshire. It's a straightforward fell walk rather than a technical climb, so you're not scrambling or anything, just a steady push uphill with decent paths most of the way.

From the top you get sight lines south towards the town itself and across the rolling moorland that defines this part of Yorkshire. On a clear day it's genuinely good; on a grey one, you lose the drama but the landscape still works. Most people can tick this off in a couple of hours depending on fitness, which makes it perfect if you're based at somewhere like Woodhouse Farm Holiday Park just down the road and want to stretch your legs without committing to a full day's expedition.

It's the sort of walk that suits families with older kids and anyone after a decent hill without the expense or faffing about. There's no visitor centre, no café, no admission fee - you just rock up, find a spot to park, and go. That's either refreshingly straightforward or slightly underwhelming depending on what you want from a day out. Walkers and fell runners treat it seriously; casual day-trippers might feel it lacks the drama of the bigger peaks. Worth doing if you're already in Ripon, but not a reason on its own to drive across Yorkshire.