Dalby Forest Walk

Dalby Forest is a well-known place on the North Yorkshire Moors, England.

Where is it?

Today, we visited Dalby Forest, which is a great place for walks. There are countless seperate walks and trails for everyone, from the Gruffalo Trail to the Bridestones. Those, in fact, are two of the three walks we visited today.

The Gruffalo Trail (minus the Gruffalo)

We began with our favourite trail: the Gruffalo Trail. Unfortunately, the Gruffalo and other characters have been moved to another trail, which we are also discussing.

The trail begins close to the main car park. It starts on a long, gravel path through the trees. There are many ‘paths’ through the nettles and weeds up into the hills and trees, off the path, if you like a bit of exploration and adventure.

After the path was a smaller path, leading downward. There we found a pile of large logs and some trees!

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We also discovered a small stream running under a bridge, and this stream ran throughout the walk. Mum dropped some leaves into it from the bridge, hoping it would bring her luck. Dad looked for fishes and Helen and Matthew played around the bank, dipping their fingers into the freezing cold water!

Then, we followed a long, winding path back to the car park. On this path, we found some insects we have never seen before, such as an orangey beetle and lots of black caterpillars.

The Bridestones Walk

Our next walk was the Bridestones, which are tall stones on which you can climb.

The Bridestones begin further up in the forest, which also provides some parking. From the car park, there is a sign for the Bridestones and a little path to follow.

The first part of the walk is a rocky path uphill. The walk was quite exhausting but was worth it in the end!

After the path uphill, there is a wooden kissing gate to go through and, shortly after that, you will be able to see the Bridestones. Once there, there are some to climb up, if you like.

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After you have explored and climbed the Bridestones and are ready to go back, there is a small, rocky downhill path to climb back down. In places the path is quite steep. Then, there is a flat path through a field.

The path should lead you to a wooden gate, through which is the beginning of the trail and you can exit the way you came in.

The New Gruffalo Trail

Finally, we followed the new Gruffalo trail, which has all the characters.

We first had lunch, as we were all hungry at this point. At the very top of the forest, there is a field you can park outside. The field has goalposts, picnic benches, a playground and a Gruffalo trail.

After lunch, we headed off onto the new Gruffalo trail. The trail begins with a big ‘Gruffalo’ signpost. There you can find lots of trails and wooden Gruffalo characters to discover.

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