The Goathland Waterfall Walk is an adventurous hike in the North York Moors, which involves seeing five waterfalls. These waterfalls include Walk Mill Force, Water Arc Foss (AKA Upper Thomason Foss), Thomason Foss, Mallyan Spout and Nelly Ayre Foss. Below, we’ll tell you everything you need to know about doing the Goathland Waterfall Walk.
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What Is the Goathland Waterfall Walk?
The Goathland Waterfall Walk is a thrilling circular waterfall walk in Goathland, North Yorkshire. Certainly, Yorkshire isn’t shy of brilliant waterfall walks. You’ve got the well-known Ingleton Waterfalls Trail and the lesser-known Keld Waterfalls Walk in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. Both of these walks visit a total of seven waterfalls each.
As mentioned, in the North York Moors, you’ve got the Goathland Waterfall Walk, which includes visiting five waterfalls. Similar to the Keld Waterfalls Walk, the Goathland Waterfall Walk is a lesser-known trail option.
Typically, visitors won’t do the Goathland Waterfall Walk to see all five waterfalls. Instead, visitors will do a short walk to see just Mallyan Spout or Thomason Foss. Whereas, Walk Mill Force, Water Arc Foss and Nelly Ayre Foss are barely visited as they’re not very well-known.
Beck and I love chasing waterfalls and doing intrepid hikes. So, we decided to do a single walk, where we would see all five waterfalls.
Admittedly, this walk is quite challenging in certain sections due to the terrain and trail navigation. You’ll have to take care when hiking down some steep and slippery slopes. You’ll also have to do mild scrambling at times and navigate some small sections that are off the beaten track.
If you’re an experienced walker and up for the challenge, continue reading below to learn how to do this walk and hear about our experience doing it.
Goathland Waterfall Walk Map
We highly recommend using a map to help you navigate this walk. Below, you’ll find an illustrated map that roughly shows the locations of all the waterfalls. For GPS-guided Goathland Waterfall Walk directions, feel free to use our custom-made AllTrails map.
Goathland Waterfall Walk Trail Stats
- Type: Loop
- Distance: 10km
- Time: 3–4 hours
- Elevation gain: 300m
- Difficulty: Hard
- Trailhead: Goathland
Goathland Waterfall Walk Distance
As listed above, the Goathland Waterall Walk is roughly 10km.
How to Get There
The easiest way to do this walk is by driving to Goathland.
Car Hire
If you don’t have your own car, you should hire one using Discover Cars. Personally, we use Discover Cars and highly recommend them for finding your ideal car hire at an affordable price. Booking online is super easy and the free cancellation policy is great.
Although it’s possible to use public transport to get to Goathland, it’s very time-consuming. So, we don’t recommend it.
If public transport is your only option, you’ll first need to get to Leeds or York. From either of these destinations, you can catch the 840 Coastliner to Whitby, alighting at Goathland along the route.
Goathland Waterfall Walk Parking
To do this walk, it’s simplest to park in the village of Goathland. The most common place to park in the village is the pay and display Goathland Car Park. This is the biggest car park in the village, featuring a public restroom. At the time of writing, all day parking is £4.50.
If you’re looking for free parking, consider parking along this road, just outside of the town of Goathland, and near Mallyan Spout.
Our Experience Doing the Goathland Waterfall Walk
Beck and I really enjoyed doing the Goathland Waterfall Walk. Below, we’ll share a little about our experience on the walk, highlighting its main attractions and key points regarding the route itself.
Please note that you won’t find a traditional step-by-step trail description below. In-depth trail descriptions can be tedious to read (and write) at the best of times. Rather, we recommend using the provided maps to aid in trail navigation. Below, we’ll briefly highlight some key things worth knowing before setting off on the walk.
Goathland Railway Station
After parking at Goathland Car Park bright and early, Beck and I set off towards Goathland Railway Station. Constructed during the 1860s, the railway station has served as a filming location for both Harry Potter and the TV series Heartbeat!
After walking over the train tracks, you’ll begin walking away from the railway station and towards the small hamlet of Darnholme.
Walk Mill Force
After passing through the picturesque hamlet of Darnholme, you’ll soon walk parallel to the North York Moors Railway and the stream of Eller Beck. It’s along this stream that you’ll find three of the Goathland waterfalls.
From a path overlooking the beck, you’ll spy Walk Mill Force from a fair distance. We used our beloved drone and the camera’s maximum zoom function to capture photos of the waterfall.
DJI Air 2S
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Sony Cybershot RX100 VII
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It’s certainly possible to walk to the base of this waterfall, but Beck and I didn’t. We were happy enough with our views from afar.
Whether you plan on getting to the base of the waterfall or not, you’ll continue along the aforementioned path until you reach Eller Beck. If you want to access the base of Walk Mill Force, you’ll turn left and scramble along the beck to reach it. As mentioned, we didn’t do this. Instead, we turned right at Eller Beck to reach Water Arc Foss.
Water Arc Foss (Upper Thomason Foss)
To reach Water Arc Foss, which are essentially the upper falls of Thomason Foss, you’ll need to scramble down fairly gnarly slopes. Take your time and proceed with caution, especially if it has been raining!
Admittedly, Water Arc Foss was my favourite of the Goathland waterfalls. So, it’s definitely worth the effort to reach.
After enjoying the majestic waterfall, it’s time to go to Thomason Foss.
Thomason Foss
From Water Arc Foss, it’s possible to directly get to Thomason Foss by following a narrow path downstream. The stream will be to your left as you approach Thomason Foss.
After some mild scrambling, you’ll soon see Thomason Foss to your left from a relatively high vantage point. The narrow path then descends, soon joining the main trail that connects Beck Hole to Thomason Foss.
Once you join the main trail, you’ll turn left and walk only a short distance to reach the small natural pool at the base of Thomason Foss.
Thomason Foss is yet another majestic waterfall on the Goathland Waterfall Walk. After soaking in the views and perhaps going for a wild swim, you’ll follow the main trail from Thomason Foss to Beck Hole.
Mallyan Spout
From Beck Hole, you’ll join one of the main trails that lead to Mallyan Spout (AKA Mallyan Spout Waterfall). Expect this trail to be much busier as Mallyan Spout is the most well-known of the Goathland waterfalls.
On the day we visited Mallyan Spout, it was crowded and the waterfall was flowing fairly weakly. So, truth be told, we were a little disappointed with our experience at Mallyan Spout.
Thankfully, the next waterfall we visited was deserted and flowing very nicely!
Nelly Ayre Foss
The trail leading from Mallyan Spout towards Nelly Ayre Foss follows a stream called Wheeldale Beck. Bear in mind, that the trail is overgrown and muddy in parts. It’s one of the more difficult parts of the walk to complete.
Eventually, you’ll reach a road, which quickly leads to a farmhouse. After passing the farmhouse and navigating around the fenced farmland, you’ll scramble down a steep and demanding slope to reach Nelly Ayre Foss.
Beck and I enjoyed having this waterfall to ourselves. After having lunch, a coffee and a well-earned rest, we scrambled our way out of Nelly Ayre Foss to Hunt House Road. From there, you’ll do some road walking to return to Goathland.
Other Goathland Waterfall Walks
We highly recommend doing the Goathland Waterfall Walk as it’s an enthralling trail that includes seeing the five major waterfalls of Goathland. However, we appreciate that you might want to do a shorter walk in the area. Below, you’ll find a list of shorter and easier waterfall walks in Goathland.
- Mallyan Spout Waterfall Walk (AKA Mallyan Spout and Beck Hole Circular Walk and Goathland to Beck Hole Circular Walk)
- Goathland to Thomason Foss
- Goathland to Grosmont Circular Walk
Other Waterfalls Near Goathland
Not far from Goathland, you’ll find some impressive waterfalls near Littlebeck. By doing the Falling Foss Circular Walk with some extra off-the-track exploration, you can see both Falling Foss and the lesser-known Blea Hill Waterfall.
For more information about visiting Falling Foss and Blea Hill Waterfall, read our North York Moors Waterfalls Guide (coming soon). In this guide, you’ll find details about all of the waterfalls in the North York Moors National Park, including lesser-known waterfalls such as Blea Hill Waterfall and Blow Gill Waterfall.
Other Walks in the North York Moors
Are you keen to explore other moderate to long-distance walks in the North York Moors? If so, we recommend the Hole of Horcum Circular Walk, the Robin Hood’s Bay to Whitby Walk and the Lord Stones to Wainstones Walk (coming soon).
Otherwise, the best short walks in the North York Moors include the Roseberry Topping Walk and the Hawnby Hill Walk.
Read more: North York Moors Walks Guide (coming soon)
Where We Stayed in the North York Moors
Beck and I have stayed in the North York Moors more than once. We’ve enjoyed a mix of both camping and hotel accommodation.
We have camped in Fylingthorpe, which is just outside of Robin Hood’s Bay, at Middlewood Farm Holiday Park. Undoubtedly, this is one of the best campgrounds in the North York Moors.
Regarding hotel accommodation in the area, we stayed at The George & Dragon Hotel in Kirkbymoorside, near Helmsley. If you’re looking for one of the best budget stays in the area, we highly recommend staying there.
Best Budget Stay in the North York Moors
- Affordable accommodation in the North York Moors
- The pub and accommodation are in separate buildings, so noise isn’t an issue
- Excellent food and local ales at the pub
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