Healthwaite Hill

The walk up Healthwaite Hill rewards you with proper views across the Wharfe Valley - nothing dramatic, but the kind of rolling Yorkshire landscape that makes you understand why people stick around here. It's a modest summit near Wetherby, the sort of place locals know and visitors often miss entirely.

The climb itself is straightforward enough, taking a good hour from the road depending on your fitness and how many times you stop to catch your breath. The path is well-trodden but can get muddy after rain, so proper boots are worth the effort. From the top you get sight lines across open moorland and farmland - on a clear day you can see for miles. It's the kind of spot where you feel genuinely away from it all, even though you're barely half an hour from Harrogate.

This is walkers' territory, full stop. Families with young kids will find the climb a slog for the return journey, and it's not the sort of place you'd linger for hours. But if you're based at one of the holiday parks dotted around the area - Maustin Park or Rudding Holiday Park are closest - it makes a solid morning or afternoon walk. Free, obviously, and open all hours since it's just a country footpath.

Come early if you want solitude. Weekends pull in the regulars, and the parking spots fill up fast. Best done in spring when the moorland plants are doing their thing, or crisp autumn days when the light is just right.