Ray Bank

The walk up Ray Bank is a proper Yorkshire moorland grind, and I mean that as a compliment. Starting from near Harrogate, you're climbing steadily through open country until the landscape flattens into that characterless plateau that makes the North Yorkshire moors feel endless and oddly compelling. The summit itself isn't dramatic - no dramatic rocky pinnacle or sudden views that make you gasp. What you get instead is space. Proper, uninterrupted space in every direction, and on a clear day you can see across to Pendle Hill and beyond.

It's a solid two-hour round trip, depending on fitness. The path isn't technical but it's relentless, and there's precious little shelter if the weather turns, which it does often up here. This is walker territory rather than a family Sunday stroll, though reasonably confident kids who don't mind a lengthy ascent would manage fine.

If you're basing yourself at Breaks Fold Farm Glamping or Catgill Farm, Ray Bank makes a decent half-day outing. Don't come expecting dramatic vistas or archaeological intrigue - come for the walking itself and the sense of being genuinely away from things. The moorland has a bleakness that grows on you. Free to access, obviously. Best tackled in decent weather; the mist can roll in fast and navigation becomes less straightforward.