. Several walks start from Rosedale Abbey, a village prettily set beside the River Seven and which sits at the heart of the moors, including a circular walk to Lastingham. St Mary's, its Norman church, has a splendidly preserved crypt. Feeling ambitious? Try the 109-mile Cleveland Way (or a part of it), which encircles much of the moors, starting in Helmsley and ending with a salty sea-blown section down the coast to Filey ( nationaltrail.co.uk ). The sections between Osmotherley and Kildale, along the edge of the Cleveland Hills in the north of the park, have the area's highest points: over 1300ft (400m) and with terrific views. It may not be the highest point on the moors (that's Round Hill on Urra Moor, 1,489ft/454m) but Roseberry Topping (957ft/320m) is the most spectacular – an ice-cream-cone){kind=link}
The annual arrival of heather flowers turns the North York Moors into a pink and purple wonderland
Yorkshire’s ‘God’s Own Country’ boastfulness can be annoying, but when it comes to moorland heather, there’s no contest. Like a hallucinogenic haze of pinks and purples, this twiggy flowering shrub cloaks the North York Moors in horizon-stretching headiness. It’s the biggest stretch of heather moorland in England and Wales, and it puts on this glorious, electrifying show from August until September.
You can enjoy it from the roadside – or a vintage train carriage – or you can immerse yourself on one of numerous walks. There’s wildlife to be spotted, too, and as it’s Yorkshire there’s always a reviving pint or refreshing cuppa not too far away.
Here are some of the best ways to get a Yorkshire heather fix, and then recover.
Dozens of walks criss-cross the moors – pick up leaflets from North York Moors National Park Visitor Centres or northyorkmoors.org.uk/walking – with one of the most spectacular for views starting from the Saltergate car park on the A169, and taking in the Hole of Horcum’s vast amphitheatre (caused, allegedly, when Giant Wade threw a clod of earth at his wife, and missed, though more likely the result of springs causing landslip).