Best Places to Visit in North Yorkshire
Written by UK Hidden Gems Editorial
Updated 5 August 2026
The best places to visit in North Yorkshire are Brimham Rocks, Loup Scar, Sandsend Beach, Clifford's Tower, Harmby Waterfall, Swinner Gill, Grassington Weir and Falling Foss Waterfall.
North Yorkshire runs from the gritstone moors above Nidderdale through the Yorkshire Dales to the coast beyond Whitby, and its best places take in all of it. The weathered outcrops of Brimham Rocks balance in strange shapes on their high moor, while in York itself the clover-leaf keep of Clifford's Tower stands on its mound above the city.
Water gathers in the dales for swimmers at Loup Scar, where the Wharfe cuts its limestone gorge above Burnsall, and at Grassington Weir below the village, and drops in wooded falls at Harmby near Leyburn. Deeper in, Swinner Gill hides its lead-mine ruins in upper Swaledale, while on the coast the sands of Sandsend run below old alum workings and Falling Foss drops through its woodland near Whitby.
Some are grand set pieces, others quiet, hidden corners. Here are eight places to visit across North Yorkshire.
Brimham Rocks
Photo: SMJ via Geograph.org.uk
Brimham Rocks scatter a jumble of weathered gritstone outcrops across high moorland above Nidderdale, between Summerbridge and Pateley Bridge in North Yorkshire. Ages of wind and rain have sculpted the stone into balancing blocks and shapes suggesting mushrooms and animals, some earning names such as the Idol and the Dancing Bear as they loom from the heather.
The National Trust manages this land, drawing walkers who wander the formations along with boulderers and climbers, and providing a car park, kiosk and visitor centre. For all the old legends, the shapes are nature's handiwork rather than the Druids'.
Let the children loose to find their own favourites.
Loup Scar
Photo: N Chadwick via Geograph.org.uk
Loup Scar is a short limestone gorge where the River Wharfe narrows and cuts between rocky cliffs, just upstream of Burnsall village in Wharfedale, in the Yorkshire Dales. Below the crags is a deep pool used for swimming on warm days, reached by a short riverside walk from Burnsall bridge along the Dales Way.
The rock and clear water make it a well-liked picnic spot. Local legend ties the place to an eighteenth-century murder, the victim's body said to have been carried down the river and recovered here.
Sandsend Beach
Photo: Andy Beecroft via Geograph.org.uk
Sandsend Beach is the north-western end of the long sweep of sand that runs from Whitby along the bay, at the village of Sandsend a few miles up the coast in North Yorkshire. Sandy at most states of the tide, it uncovers rocky, fossil-bearing ledges at low water, with the village gathered around two becks and cliffs rising behind.
The Cleveland Way runs along the old railway line above the shore, and to the north are the spoil heaps and ruins of the old alum works, a strange industrial landscape left from the days when alum was made here for the dyeing trade.
Clifford's Tower
Photo: derek dye via Geograph.org.uk
Clifford's Tower is a stone keep standing on a steep grassy mound in the centre of York, the largest surviving part of the old York Castle. It is built to an unusual four-lobed plan, like a clover leaf seen from above.
Inside, timber walkways and a rooftop deck added in a recent restoration let you climb up for a wide view over the city. In 1190 the wooden tower that stood here burned during the mass killing of York's Jewish community, the darkest chapter in its history.
Harmby Waterfall
Photo: Gordon Hatton via Geograph.org.uk
Harmby Waterfall is a small fall in a wooded gorge at the edge of the village of Harmby, near Leyburn in Wensleydale. A short path with steps drops down from the village to it, off the main road.
It is a modest fall, best after rain, far quieter than the better-known falls elsewhere in the dale. Roadside parking in the village is limited.
Swinner Gill
Photo: Gordon Hatton via Geograph.org.uk
Swinner Gill is a deep, rocky offshoot of upper Swaledale, joining the main dale from the east roughly a mile out from Keld in the Yorkshire Dales. Its beck plunges through a gorge down to the Swale, with a waterfall higher up where East Grain flows in, and the ruins of old lead mines and a small smelt mill lie scattered in and around the gill.
On the hillside just before it stand the remains of Crackpot Hall, a Georgian farmhouse inhabited until the 1920s. Circular walks lead here from Keld, close to where the Pennine Way and the Coast to Coast paths cross.
Pick a dry spell and take your time.
Grassington Weir
Photo: Philip Barker via Geograph.org.uk
Grassington Weir is a swimming and paddling spot on the River Wharfe just below Grassington in the Yorkshire Dales, on a grassy riverside common reached from the Linton Falls footbridge. The river runs over two weirs and a stone slide beside the natural rapids of Linton Falls, with the best swimming in the pool above the upper weir.
The upper weir feeds a small hydro station that stands on the site of an older one. The Wharfe rises fast after rain, so the water can change quickly.
Falling Foss Waterfall
Photo: Stephen McCulloch via Geograph.org.uk
Falling Foss is a woodland waterfall of about thirty feet on the Little Beck, in the North York Moors a few miles inland from Whitby. Beside it stands Midge Hall, a former woodman's cottage that runs seasonally as the Falling Foss Tea Garden, serving cakes and drinks at outdoor tables.
Woodland walks lead to it from the May Beck and Littlebeck car parks, a short and popular route through the trees. It is one of a string of features along the beck, including a hermitage carved from rock nearby.
FAQs
Where can you swim in North Yorkshire?
Loup Scar and Grassington Weir are the best swimming spots, both on the River Wharfe in the Yorkshire Dales. Loup Scar has a deep pool below the crags above Burnsall, reached on a short riverside walk, and Grassington Weir has swimming in the pool above the upper weir beside Linton Falls. Both rise fast after rain, so the water can change quickly.
What are the best places to visit in North Yorkshire for families?
Brimham Rocks and Falling Foss are the best for a family visit. Brimham Rocks is National Trust moorland with balancing gritstone shapes, a car park, kiosk and visitor centre, popular for walking among the formations, and Falling Foss near Whitby is a short woodland walk to a waterfall with a seasonal tea garden beside it.
Is Swinner Gill one of the quieter places to visit in North Yorkshire?
Yes, Swinner Gill is one of the quietest, a deep side valley of upper Swaledale with old lead-mine ruins near Keld, along with Harmby Waterfall, a modest fall in a wooded gorge near Leyburn. Both are reached on foot away from the busier Dales honeypots.
Conclusion
North Yorkshire runs from gritstone moor to Dales limestone to the Whitby coast, and its best places span the lot. The weathered outcrops of Brimham Rocks balance on their high moor, while the clover-leaf keep of Clifford's Tower stands over York.
Water gathers for swimmers at Loup Scar's Wharfe gorge above Burnsall and at Grassington Weir below the village, and drops in wooded falls at Harmby near Leyburn. Deeper in, Swinner Gill hides its lead-mine ruins in upper Swaledale, while on the coast Sandsend runs below its old alum workings and Falling Foss drops through its woodland near Whitby.
From balancing rock to woodland fall, these are the places to seek out across North Yorkshire.
