Scarborough Castle Circular Walk

Walk Distance: 1 km

Walk Duration: 35 minutes at toddler speed, including view admiring time!

Ordnance Survey: OS Landranger 101 Scarborough; OS Explorer 301 Scarborough, Bridlington & Flamborough Head (although the walk is very short and on paved paths so an OS should not be necessary).

Suitable for: babies in slings, good little walkers (a few uphills & some big steps to tackle), pushchairs ok on the path that runs beneath the castle but not the top path by the ramparts.

Walk Features: Fantastic views across Scarborough and the coast, Scarborough castle, playground, option to extend walk down to Scarborough harbour and beach if you want a longer stroll.

Kate says:

This is a great little walk with some fantastic views across Scarborough. We found it when we had popped in to Scarborough to ‘just take a look’ before carrying on with our journey to Glasgow. Whilst pondering the best spot for a view of the castle, a local lady approached us and suggested a ‘very short walk’ along the castle ramparts. As with most of our walks, it turns out they are not so short with a dawdling three year old and our 15 minutes turned into 35! There’s a couple of uphills and steps but otherwise the Scarborough Castle walk is a doddle for little legs and has the bonus of a playground at the end. At the bottom of the steps, you can extend the walk by heading down to the harbour and town if you choose – we didn’t have time but it looked like a good wander. Just take care when parking – we thought we had two hours free but got landed with a parking ticket which marred the walk a bit.

Walk Description:

The Scarborough Castle Circular Walk starts from just after St. Mary’s Church on Castle Road and just below Scarborough Castle itself. A path leaves Castle Road to the right on a wide paved avenue known as Dog and Duck Lane – head down this to start the walk.

At the signpost, take the left hand path, walking uphill towards the walls of Scarborough Castle. Take time to admire the view out towards the coast north of Scarborough form the archway at the top – it’s spectacular.

Continue on up the path, walking now slightly towards the right. The path passes directly beneath the ramparts of Scarborough Castle on a rough but flat path. There has been a fortification on the headland here for over 3000 years although the remains of the current castle are the legacy of Henry II. Walk along the length of the ramparts before descending down deep steps. After the steps the path zig zags a little as you continue the walk downhill. There are some fantastic views from here out over Scarborough, the beach and the harbour.

When the path joins the larger paved path at the bottom, turn right and begin the walk back up towards Scarborough Castle again, this time via the low route. If you have time to wander a little more then you can choose instead to turn left and walk on down to Scarborough harbour and seafront. To stretch it out even further, return via Marine Drive around the headland before weaving back up to that arch at the start of the walk from the northern side. We didn’t have time on this occasion but it looks like a lovely wander, albeit a bit of a climb on the return leg.

For those on the 1m round, walk back up on the low path, enjoying the intermittent views of both Scarborough below and Scarborough castle above. The walk returns to the signposts at the start, where there is a small children’s playground. Return via the Dog and Duck Lane to complete the walk.

Map of Route:

Directions:

The Scarborough Castle Circular Walk starts from the Dog and Duck Lane on Castle Road, Scarborough, just beneath the entrance to Scarborough Castle. As we discovered when we misread the parking sign and got a parking ticket (!) there is no parking immediately next to the castle. Instead you can use the Park and Ride service, the pay and display car park in Marine Drive and walk up or park elsewhere in town. Look out for residential parking permit zones though!

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