The Teesdale Way

The Teesdale Way is a long distance walking trail that crosses the North East of England west-to-east. The western end lies in the remote Cumbrian village of Dufton, on the other side of the North Pennines, while the eastern end is found hard up against the North Sea on Redcar & Cleveland’s seemingly endless beaches. The route passes through County Durham and Teesside, visiting the cities of Stockton-on-Tees and Middlesbrough, the historic market towns of Middleton-in-Teesdale, Barnard Castle, Darlington and Yarm, and the pleasant villages in between. Like the Weardale Way it works equally well in either direction though we’ve chosen to present it west-to-east, in the same direction as the generally prevailing weather systems. Many hikers however, will prefer the increasing physical challenge and remoteness that comes with walking in the opposite direction.


Download the ROUTE FILE by clicking the PLAY button on the map and going to MENU > DOWNLOAD. If the menu disappears, click the crossed arrows to EXPAND the map which should work even if it’s minimised again.


Neither the Teesdale Way nor the Weardale Way is a National Trail and consequently lack the investment of better known trails such as the Pennine Way. This means that, from time to time, infrastructure – particularly with regard to access and waymarking – may not be what you’d expect of National Trails. If you’re motivated to try and change the situation you probably already know what to do (feel free to let us know where you had issues but remember that we’re not the authority). In general though, other than when vegetation is most abundant, the trails are easy enough to follow with a sense of adventure, a good map and our very own TEESDALE WAY POCKET GUIDE.

Stats at a Glance

Distance 148 km/92 miles | Height Gain 1476 m/4842 ft | Maximum Elevation 600 m/1968 ft (Narrow Gate, High Cup Gill) | Number of Sections 14 | Average Distance per Section 10.6 km/6.6 miles | River Length 160 km/99 miles; Tees Head to Cow Green Reservoir 14 km/8.7 miles; Cow Green Reservoir 3.6 km/2.2 miles; Cow Green Dam to Teesmouth 142 km/88.2 miles

The Teesdale Way – Section by Section

Section 1 Dufton to Cow Green  (14.4 km/8.9 miles)

Section 2 Cow Green to Holwick Head (10.9 km/6.8 miles)

Section 3 Holwick Head to Middleton-in-Teesdale (7.3 km/4.5 miles)

Section 4 Middleton-in-Teesdale to Romaldkirk (9 km/5.6 miles)

Section 5 Romaldkirk to Barnard Castle (9.7 km/6 miles)

Section 6 Barnard Castle to Whorlton (6.8 km/4.3 miles)

Section 7 Whorlton to Gainford (9.2 km/5.7 miles)

Section 8 Gainford to Darlington (12.6 km/7.8 miles)

Section 9 Darlington to Hurworth-on-Tees (9.4 km/5.8 miles)

Section 10 Hurworth-on-Tees to Middleton One Row (9.9 km/6.2 miles)

Section 11 Middleton One Row to Yarm (11.7 km/7.3 miles)

Section 12 Yarm to Stockton-on-Tees (12.2 km/7.6 miles)

Section 13 Stockton-on-Tees to South Bank (12.8 km/7.9 miles)

Section 14 South Bank to Teesmouth or Redcar (11.9 km/7.4 miles OR 10.6 km/6.5 miles )

18 thoughts on “Teesdale Way”

  1. I completed the whole thing last week. What an adventure. As well as OS maps I regularly checked this guide on my phone – making particular use of the mileage stats of each of the sections – to help me make strategic decisions about how far to push on each day. This was really useful. Thank you for this.

    I’d recommend the route to any walker. Pretty much all of it is very well signposted but a map will make your journey foolproof. Every section of the route has something to capture the imagination. I also was lucky to have glorious walking weather throughout (not too hot, barely any rain) so I will count my blessings there.

    I didn’t plan on doing a video blog of my journey but I took so many photos and videos that one more or less made itself so here it is for anyone interested:

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pI_JyX2K9T4

    Ps. WEAR FULL LENGTH TROUSERS FOR THE WOODED SECTION BETWEEN NEWSHAM AND LOW TOWN. NO END OF GIANT HOGWEED AND NETTLES.

  2. We walked the Teesdale Way between Thornaby Station and Eaglescliffe Station – having left the car at Eaglescliffe – in glorious sunshine. The Way is not marked at the west end of Bowesfield Nature reserve and the intended steps to cross the A66 is fenced off, so inaccessible – needed a long detour to get across the main road. The up to date OS map is not accurate/helpful , unlike a local resident who gave us the information we needed to get to Preston Park.

  3. Hi, thanks a lot for the information on this route, running it next Tuesday (23rd). It really helped to decide the best locations for my support crew to meet me.

    kind regards
    Tom

    1. Hi Tom,

      My pleasure. It’s great to know it’s helped. Let me know how you get on – and don’t forget to take some photos.

      It doesn’t matter how well you’ve prepared, sometimes you just need a bit of luck, so all the best.

      Scott

    2. Hi Tom,

      How did you get on with your Teesdale Way run? Such a beautiful first section. I love running up there!

      Kind regards,

      Owain

  4. Patrick Richardson

    I’m walking this route in sections, live locally to the route in Stockton. I’ve already covered Dufton to Barnard Castle and now just done Barnard Castle to Low Conscliffe. Also once I’m done with the main route itself I’m going back to cover the other route variations. I’m making a video list on YouTube for this walk, my channel is Paddy’s Adventures.

    1. Just had a quick look Paddy – looks great so I’m going to save it for leisure viewing this evening. I’ll give it a link. Keep in touch.

      All the best

      Scott

  5. Giant Hog-weed, I have notice a lot of Giant hog-weed encroaching on the path on the YARM to Stockton on Tees section immediately after the Blue bell pub, I have informed Stockton council but they say the are not responsible for the land, please take care

    1. Hi Dave,

      Sorry about the delay in replying but I got a similar response from the Council. Giant Hog-weed proliferates on the lower reaches of the Tees; I didn’t notice it so much on the Yarm to Stockton side, but it’s rampant on the Middleton-One-Row to Yarm section. Thanks very much for the info; I’ll make sure to mention it in the book. Thanks for taking the time to comment. All the best. Scott

  6. David & Mary FOSTER

    We’ve had a brilliant day today – walking Section 1 (Dufton to Cauldron Snout and Cow Green).
    Hope we can access the details for Section 2 via the link soon!

    1. Glad you enjoyed it – fantastic weather. I think I’ve fixed the problem: you should be able to access the other sections now. Thanks for bearing with me. Happy walkings.
      All the best. Scott

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Scroll to Top