Forest bathing at Little Beck Wood and Falling Foss

Little Beck Wood is a Yorkshire Wildlife Trust reserve in a steep valley a few miles south of Whitby, split down the middle by Little Beck. The trees are mostly oak, ash, alder and cherry, and the valley leads up to Falling Foss, where the beck drops about 30 feet into a pool. On the way you pass the Hermitage, a hollowed-out boulder said to have been home to an eighteenth-century hermit.

A popular circuit starts from May Beck car park and comes down through the woods to the waterfall and the Falling Foss Tea Garden, which opens in summer. You can also park at Littlebeck village hall. Paths are steep, uneven and unsurfaced, with a boardwalk in places and a steep drop beside the beck, so wear boots. The mossy trunks and fallen leaves make autumn a good time to come, and the valley is sheltered on a windy day.