Forest bathing at Nidd Gorge

Nidd Gorge is a Woodland Trust site of about 46 hectares made up of five woods: Coalpits Wood, Bilton Banks, Spring Wood, Scotton Banks and Gates Wood. The southern bank is ancient semi-natural woodland, alders line the river, and Bilton Banks has yews more than a century old. Conifers planted in the 1960s on the northern bank are gradually being thinned. There is history underfoot too, from the ramparts of a probable Iron Age hillfort to the hollows of old coal pits.

The small free car park off the B6165 near Scotton Drive leads onto a well-surfaced track that runs about a kilometre down to the river, with a footbridge a few hundred metres from the car park. Away from that track the paths are steeper, with steps and boardwalks that get slippery in the wet. Bluebells cover the floor in spring. Footpaths link to both Harrogate and Knaresborough, so it is easy to reach on foot from either town.