This is a route offering some amazing views across the plane of Teesside and moors of Cleveland. The route covers a range of terrain from forest to moorland and can be traversed in a number of different ways.

Circular | 12km (7.46 miles) | Difficulty: Medium

Claybank to Round Hill Elevation

The route starts at the Claybank car park situated along the road South of Great Broughton. Walkers can choose to follow the route clockwise if they wish to consolidate all the up hill inclines into one section or anti-clockwise for a gradual climb. This write up details the clockwise option.

1: From the car park the route follows the road uphill to a footpath which heads left and up hill on the South side of the wall here.. Walkers can choose to follow the footpath on the other side if they wish to traverse the route in reverse. Following the Southern path first leads the route along edge of the woods.

2: Throughout the forest the path will merge with others. Walkers should continue taking whichever route heads ahead to their left. This gradually takes the route down to the bottom of the hills. The paths here can be very muddy and may be difficult to traverse because of this. It doesn’t help that there is often tree felling machinery at work here tearing up the pathways. You may be forced to take a detour at certain times of year if work is taking place.

3: After following the foot of the hill for a while there is a path to the right which heads back up. This leads all the way to the top of the hill and is quite a climb. This is the single large incline on this route. However the views it offers are extremely rewarding.

4: Following this path will eventually lead to the Cleveland Way. The route follows the path to the right. This leads across the moors towards the summit of Round Hill.

5: Walkers can stick on the path and ignore the summit but there is a small path to the right which allows those wanting a look to cut up to the cairn. From here walkers can follow another small path Westward back onto the Cleveland Way without having to backtrack. The main path does fork along this section, the route follows the path to the right.

6: Walkers follow this path directly back to the road at the start of the route. This leads over Carr Ridge which gives you great views across Teesside and Bilsdale. When the route reaches the road the car park is nearby on the right.

This is a brilliant walk offering fantastic views and some challenge in the form of a long gradual climb along with some difficult terrain in the forest segments. The option to follow the route the other way around does allow for reducing the challenge of the incline by spreading the incline out.