Simonside is always the first place I think of when people ask me for Northumberland recommendations. It’s got it all: quirky, rocky crags, far-reaching views and forest trails. Essentially, it’s Northumberland in miniature. We’ve been to Simonside several times before, but we’re always happy to return, especially on a lovely sunny day. Back in June we spent a week on the outskirts of Rothbury and our cottage was less than 10 minutes away – it would’ve been criminal not to squeeze in another visit. I did get a bit of flack from Sam for driving to the car park… But, in my defence, an extra 2 miles each way would be a hefty extension!
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Walk summary: Simonside
- Distance: 6 miles
- Route type: Hill
- Time: 3 hours
- Parking: Forestry England car park, ///slot.sweeper.custodial
- Dog friendly: 4/5
- Difficulty: Moderate
A mix and match trail
We’ve visited Simonside a few times, but we’ve never walked through the woods at the bottom of the hills. Seems daft, when I have a whole blog centred on dog friendly walks, doesn’t it? In fairness, this was due to badly timed visits coinciding with forestry works or major storms blocking access to the car park. So, I was chuffed when we finally found our route to the car park unimpeded.
Initially I’d picked out a seven and a half mile walk from our Cicerone guide. Starting from the Forestry England car park, it climbs through the woods and along several viewpoints on the Simonside Ridge, before returning along the road. And here was my niggle: the road. There’s nothing wrong with a bit of road walking, but if there’s an off-road alternative, I’d rather take it. Studying the map had me wondering if we could ditch the route at Dove Crag and drop back into the woods for an off-road return. After all, all we’d skip would be Lordenshaws, which I’ve walked before. Much as I enjoyed Lordenshaws, I’d rather do it on its own than tag it on with added road walking.
Happily, when we arrived in the car park, my theory was confirmed by the map of way-marked walks. Forestry England have two way-marked trails, including this four mile circular which returns on exactly the path I’d been eyeing up. Marvellous! Therefore, our final route was a bit of a hodge-podge of trails, combining the Cicerone and Forestry routes. Altogether, we clocked in at six miles and three hours.
Into the woods
The first leg of the walk was a gentle ascent up through the woods. It was my favourite kind of forest trail: excellent tracks with airy trees which leave the views always in reach. We made a quick detour to find a small cave (Sam’s favourite kind of detour), and not long after this the trail steepened and became narrower and rockier. I was glad I’d gone with my lighter jacket as even with a decent wind it was muggy and humid! Or maybe I was just a bit out of shape…
At the top of this climb we turned right, veering off the Forestry trail and making for the Cicerone guide’s first objective: Ravens Heugh. The trail maintained its lovely views down over Coquetdale, meandering up to a small cairn looking out over the countryside. While a little rougher, the trail was totally devoid of people: a rarity at Simonside.
An unexpected encounter
Having enjoyed our fill of the view, we doubled back to pick up the way-marked route. A short but brisk climb takes you to the top of the Simonside ridge. I felt I was doing very well at pacing myself and maintaining a normal breathing pattern on the climb – until I saw Merry going to sniff a pile of sticks that moved. It took a second for my brain to process what I was looking at: a tiny, neatly coiled adder snake sunbathing on the step. Heart in my mouth, I managed to yank Merry away before he could get close enough to make contact. My calm heart rate went out of the window though!
I must apologise for the lack of decent photos of Simonside’s weird and wonderful crags: after this, my attention was mainly on the path to make sure there weren’t any more adders chilling anywhere. Photos ended up getting a bit neglected. Merry did not appreciate his short lead becoming ‘at heel’ length either, but I’d rather not risk missing anything. The good news was that this was at least the last of the uphill for the walk, making it much less strenuous than I remembered our last big walk here around Selby’s Cove being.
Once you reach the ridge, it’s a non-stop parade of lovely views and interesting crags – there are some great photo opportunities. It was so windy though that I didn’t fancy being brave close to any edges! We did start to see some more people here (including some nice ladies who’d witnessed my partial mental breakdown over the adder and congratulated me on my physical prowess in carrying Merry up the steps to the top – at least they appreciated it, even if Merry didn’t). I did feel obliged to point out I only carried him for about 10 metres before my arms gave up – he’s small but dense!
Back into the woods
Beyond Simonside itself, Dove Crag is always a highlight for me: excellent views and excellent photo opportunities. Given that the wind was strong enough that 80% of my vision was taken up by my fringe, we didn’t hang around this time – which was a shame as it was much quieter than we expected. Mid-week is clearly the time to go! However, we were more than happy to drop out of the wind and back into the trees. Especially as adders prefer basking in the sun to chilling in the woods.
This part of the woods felt very different to the opening section. Extremely green, with steeper, narrower trails which descend rapidly back down towards the car park. It’s definitely more of a storybook woodland vibe than the trails at the start, which is not a complaint.
I hadn’t realised how much we’d climbed until we started coming back down. The shade was a welcome relief – out of the wind, the temperature was rising towards twenty degrees. And, we didn’t see a soul until we got back to the car park. I’m sure it won’t be long until we’re back again!
Dog friendly rating: Simonside
Dog friendly rating: 4/5. Adders aside, there is a lot to love about this route. The woods are perfect for dogs, and if you weren’t bothered about the views, there is a shorter route entirely in the woods you could follow. The route is stile free, and you may want to carry water for your dog on a warm day. While Simonside is access land, I’ve checked the maps and can’t see any restrictions on dogs currently – just make sure to stick to access land rules like keeping dogs on a short, fixed lead. I’d probably have given this route a 5/5 if we hadn’t come across the adder!
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