Melbecks

The walk up to Melbecks is proper steep, but that's rather the point. This North Yorkshire fell rises to 500-odd metres and sits alone on the landscape between Richmond and Swaledale, commanding views that stretch across the Pennines on a clear day. There's no café, no visitor centre, no café - just moorland, rough grass underfoot, and the wind howling through the valley below.

It's the kind of peak that rewards effort without demanding mountaineering skills. Walkers and fell runners use it as part of longer routes through the Yorkshire Dales, but you can tackle it as a standalone ascent in under two hours if you're reasonably fit. The terrain is boggy in places, loose stone in others, so proper boots matter. Bring a map too - the summit itself is less dramatic than you might hope, marked only by moorland sprawl, but turn around on the descent and Richmond sits proper small in the distance.

Families with young kids might find the gradient a slog, and the lack of facilities means you'll need to carry everything with you. But if you're camped at Usha Gap Farm just down the road, Melbecks makes an excellent half-day outing that doesn't require driving to some tourist-mobbed honeypot. Go early to avoid the afternoon mist that rolls in from the west. The views are worth it, even if the summit's underwhelming.