Teesdale, County Durham

The Upper Teesdale Bus Link Service 73, between Barnard Castle, Middleton-in-Teesdale and Langdon Beck, stops at Bowlees (01833 640213).

The Bowlees Visitor Centre, housed in an old Methodist chapel, is worth a visit either before or after your walk.

[1] From the Centre, follow the track that heads north-west past Ash Head Farm.

There are lovely views from here up and down Teesdale.

The track descends to Dirt Pit hamlet (an undeservedly unflattering name), where you join a lane and bear right, continuing in the same direction. After around 1km, turn left at a gate with the name Birch Rigg on it and follow the footpath up past the house, continuing across fields, then along a grassy track to a tarmac lane. Stay on the lane to bring you down to the main valley road – the B6277 – where there’s a Methodist chapel opposite (NY871295).

[2] Turn right and almost immediately left down a track that leads to a bridge over the River Tees. Cross and bear right along a footpath that soon runs alongside the Tees (on its south side). From the bridge you follow the Tees for approximately 4km/2½ miles – it’s gentle walking, though the surroundings become progressively wilder as you head west.

The area you are now in is part of the Moor House-Upper Teesdale National Nature Reserve.

As the valley narrows between Cronkley Fell and Widdybank Fell, where the path is hemmed in by the river on one side and the foot of Cronkley Fell on the other, there are boardwalks to help facilitate your progress.

[3] When the riverbank broadens out on your side, keep a look out for a path on your left (NY828281) that heads east up the steep slopes of Cronkley Fell. The grassy path up the heather-clad slopes should be obvious, as should the cairn at the top.

There are good views back over the Tees Valley from here.

Cairns lead you onwards across the plateau.

(A) Note a number of fenced enclosures, erected to prevent further erosion of the unique ‘sugar limestone’ soil which supports a species-rich type of limestone grassland.

The grassy track – known as the Green Trod, a former droveway – leads you down the other side of the plateau to a junction with a footpath (at NY861280).

[4] Turn left to join the Pennine Way. There’s a stone marker here with arrows and the initials PW and GT – Pennine Way and Green Trod - on it.

[5] Turn right along the well-marked Pennine Way.

(B) This leads you first past spectacular High Force (NY880284), where the River Tees drops 21m/69ft over the Great Whin Sill into a plunge pool below.  

Further on you come to attractive Low Force. Turn left to cross the Wynch (suspension) Bridge and follow the path up to the road, and thence back to the car park.

The North Pennines, Britain’s second largest AONB, is one of the most remote and unspoilt places in the country and hence often described as ‘England’s last wilderness’. Slicing through this landscape of high, isolated moorland are the Durham Dales – Weardale, Teesdale and the Derwent Valley. Unlike the more famous and crowded Yorkshire Dales to the south, the Durham Dales remain relatively unknown, but they afford some beautiful scenery and excellent walking. Three of the country’s finest waterfalls – Low Force, High Force and Cauldron Snout – are found along the River Tees. In each case the waterfall has formed where the river cascades over outcrops of the Great Whin Sill. The Pennine Way links the three of them. 

Terrain: Moorland and riverside path.

Maps: OS Explorer OL31; Landranger 91 or 92.

Eating & drinking: There’s a café at Bowlees Visitor Centre, and more cafés, pubs, etc. in Middleton-in-Teesdale. The nearby villages of Mickleton, Holwick, Eggleston, Romaldkirk and Cotherstone all have pubs.

Sleeping: Hotels and B&B in Middleton-in-Teesdale. There’s a variety of self-catering accommodation in the area.

Visitor Information: Middleton-in-Teesdale TIC (01833 641001, www.middletonplus.org.uk, www.exploreteesdale.co.uk, www.visitnortheastengland.com).  

Local Ramblers Group: Barnard Castle Ramblers ( www.barnardcastleramblers.ork.uk).

Route originally appeared in Walk magazine Spring 2011 (issue No.30)