Roseberry Topping is one of the best places to visit in the North York Moors National Park. Thanks to its distinctive shape, it’s even known as the “Yorkshire Matterhorn” in the area! It’s only 320 meters high, however the views are excellent. It’s also a great walk for beginners! I’ve done this hike twice, and most recently added on a walk along the top of Newton Moor. Here’s what you need to know about this hike in the North York Moors: Roseberry Topping and Newton Moor!

Starting the Roseberry Topping Hike

The easiest place to park for this hike is the official North York Moors National Park car park at Newton under Roseberry. Currently, the charges are £2.70 for up to 2 hours, or £4.80 for over 2 hours. You can find more information on the North York Moors car park website.

For this hike, you’ll need the OS Map OL26 – North York Moors (Western Area). However, I didn’t bring a map and I don’t feel that you really need one for the hike I did. That being said, you can do a longer version of this hike, looping through Captain Cook’s Monument and Great Ayton (more below), and you may want a map for that.

As with any hike in the UK, I recommend being prepared with sturdy boots, a waterproof rain jacket, and plenty of water and snacks. Although the climb up Roseberry Topping doesn’t take a long time, it’s very steep and strenuous. You can check out my outdoor gear guide for all my recommendations on what to bring for hikes!

Hiking Up Roseberry Topping

From the parking lot, you follow the trail and track that lead straight up into the woods. There are several steep sections of this direct hike up to the top, so take your time! If you’re visiting in late spring, you might be lucky enough to see some of the beautiful bluebells that cover the forest at this time of year. It was a real highlight of my hike up Roseberry Topping!

You’ll pass a gate on your way up, and most of the path is rutted and stepped with stones. There is a short scramble over the rocks to the summit and trig point. Definitely stop to enjoy the views here! At a moderate pace (but with several photo stops), it took me 35 minutes from leaving the car to getting to the top.

Hiking Out Along Newton Moor

There were a fair amount of people out when I visited—a few days after the first lockdown restrictions were eased in the UK. So in order to keep our distance, we decided to hike away from everyone else! If you’re going out to Roseberry Topping, I definitely recommend walking along Newton Moor.

There is a steep descent from the summit, with stone steps on the path. You then hike up the path until you get to the top of the ridge. From here, turn right and simply follow the trail along! The views here were amazing and well worth the hikes up and down. If you want to, you can extend your hike all the way to the Captain Cook’s Monument! Or, if you really want a longer hike, you can hike out to Captain Cook’s Monument, and back to Newton under Roseberry via the village of Great Ayton.

We chose not to see the Captain Cook’s Monument up close (I didn’t want to hike up another giant hill!). We turned around about half an hour after getting to the main ridge of Newton Moor, and simply retraced our steps. On the way back, we descended down from Newton Moor. Instead of going back up Roseberry Topping, we took the path to the right and followed it around the base of Roseberry Topping instead. It then linked up with the woods we had cut through earlier.

All in all, it took us about 2.5 hours to do this walk. The views over the area from both Roseberry Topping and Newton Moor are wonderful, and when we went it tended to be quite quiet after we left the summit.

Great Ayton: Alternate Route Up Roseberry Topping

There are lots of different ways to do the hike up Roseberry Topping. If you’re up for a longer hike (7.5 miles, about 4-5 hours), you can start in the village of Great Ayton. The North York Moors National Park website has an excellent loop that starts in Great Ayton, hikes up Roseberry Topping, and visits Captain Cook’s Monument before finishing back in Great Ayton.

There is very limited public transportation for the hike up Roseberry Topping, but Great Ayton does have a train station. Therefore if you’re limited to public transport, I’d suggest doing this longer hike and starting in Great Ayton.

Planning Your Trip

Having a car is definitely the best way to do the hike up Roseberry Topping. It is easy to park in Newton under Roseberry and do this hike—otherwise you can park at the Captain Cook’s Monument, and hike up to Newton Moor and Roseberry Topping this way. But it’s also a great option for a car-free walk from York!

If you don’t want to do a long hike or start in Great Ayton, there is limited service on the 81S bus route from Guisborough to Stokesley. However, neither Guisborough nor Stokesley have a train station, so you would need to get the train to Middlesborough, and then take another bus to connect to Guisborough (there are several different bus routes that go this way, visit Arriva’s website for more information). I always use Trainline to find the best deals on train tickets.

I hiked up Roseberry Topping as a daytrip from York. It’s easy enough to get to Newton under Roseberry from York or the surrounding villages in the North York Moors. You can search for hostels in the area here, or for hotels here! You can also sign up to and search Airbnb for accommodation here. Considering travel insurance for your trip? World Nomads offers coverage for more than 150 adventure activities as well as emergency medical, lost luggage, trip cancellation and more.

If you’re in the area, Guisborough and Osmotherley are pretty market towns to visit. Mount Grace Priory is a beautiful, historic site to visit just a short drive from Roseberry Topping. It’s run by English Heritage—you can visit both the house, the priory ruins, and the stunning gardens. If you’re looking for another hike, why not do the Wainstones hike from Chop Gate? I loved this hike in the North York Moors, and you get great views of Roseberry Topping from here!

The North York Moors National Park is one of my favorite places, and somewhere that I love exploring. Roseberry Topping is a classic walk, and I loved getting to enjoy the views from Newton Moor. I hope this helps in planning a trip to Roseberry Topping!

Have you been to Roseberry Topping or the North York Moors before?

You might also like my posts:

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North York Moors Hikes: Chop Gate To The Wainstones

Farndale Daffodils: An Easy Spring Walk In The North York Moors

Hiking The Hole Of Horcum In The North York Moors

Walking From Whitby To Robin Hood’s Bay: One Of My Favorite Walks In Yorkshire

Quintessential Yorkshire: The Best 4 Daytrips From York

88 Places To Visit In Yorkshire

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