Yorkshire Moors

Weekly feature

Spotlight

By Jon Cosson · Updated 11 October 2026

Each week I pick one event, place, attraction or business across the North York Moors and give it a page of its own, with the dates, the prices and how to get there. Every feature stays here once its week is over.

Spotlight features are chosen by the editor. Nobody pays to be featured.

Coming up

Steam locomotive on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway

Coming up · Week of 19 October

Halloween and half-term on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway

A ghost train for ages 14 and over, free trick or treating at the stations and the holiday fare from 24 October.

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Whitby Abbey ruins on the clifftop above the town

Coming up · Week of 26 October

Whitby at Halloween: Goth Weekend and the Illuminated Abbey

Goth Weekend, the free Bizarre Bazaar and the abbey lit up after dark.

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Sunlight through the trees in Dalby Forest

Coming up · Week of 2 November

Dalby Forest in November

Half-term over, the forest is quiet again: winter hours, the parking charges and the walks worth doing now.

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Coming up · Week of 9 November

A Dickens of a Christmas at Castle Howard

Castle Howard's Victorian Christmas opens on 12 November, and the railway's Santa Express follows from 28 November.

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Top answers for the Yorkshire Moors

All questions in the full FAQ hub →

Quick, straight answers to the questions visitors ask most. Each one links through to the fuller guide.

What is there to do in the North York Moors in winter?

Stargazing (it's an International Dark Sky Reserve), bracing coastal and moorland walks, cosy country pubs, and the North Yorkshire Moors Railway's festive steam services. The moors are atmospheric and empty in winter.

What's on →

What are the top things to do in the North York Moors?

Ride the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, walk the heather moors and the Cleveland Way, explore Rievaulx and Whitby abbeys, see the Hole of Horcum and Sutton Bank, visit Goathland and Thornton-le-Dale, and spend a day on the coast at Whitby or Robin Hood's Bay.

Things to do →

What can you do in the North York Moors when it rains?

Ride the steam railway, visit museums (Beck Isle Museum in Pickering, the Ryedale Folk Museum at Hutton-le-Hole, Whitby's museums), explore abbey visitor centres, or browse the shops and tearooms of Helmsley and Whitby.

Pickering guide →

What do I need to know about driving in the North York Moors?

Moor roads are scenic but narrow, with blind summits, cattle grids and sheep. Sometimes free-roaming through villages like Goathland, on unfenced roads, so drive slowly and use passing places. High routes such as Blakey Ridge can be bleak or closed in snow.

Driving routes →

Is it free to visit the North York Moors, and what does it cost?

The national park is free to enter, and most walking, moorland and viewpoints cost nothing; you pay only for parking, attractions (abbeys, the railway, museums) and refreshments. Prices vary, so check official sites.

About the Yorkshire Moors →

Can you camp in the North York Moors, and is wild camping allowed?

There are many campsites and caravan parks across the park, but wild camping is not a legal right in England and requires the landowner's permission, so use official sites.

Camping and caravanning →