Harden Moor And More

On this moderate 8.5-mile walk from Bingley, in the Harden Valley area of West Yorkshire, you’ll take in beautiful scenery and a bit of (pre)history. Starting with a steady climb up Altar Lane, you’ll stop at Druid’s Altar to admire the views over the Aire Valley, before making your way to Harden Moor to find a prehistoric stone circle thought to date back to the Bronze Age.

From the moor, the route continues through the lovely hamlet of Ryecroft and down into the Harden Valley, where you’ll find remnants of what was once the “Happy Valley" pleasure resort. The walk then loops back to Bingley via Bank Top, Black Hills and Beckfoot.

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These local businesses proudly support Bingley Walkers are Welcome. Look for the WaW logo in their window – walkers are always welcome inside.

A classic rural pub near Harden Beck Bridge serving homemade traditional food and great ales. Perfect for a break on this walk!

A Garden & Leisure Centre on Harden Lane hosting a café serving good comforting food.

This pub is a recent addition to Bingley town centre. It has replaced the Ferrands Arms but has kept most of its old character and still serve great beers!

Last edited: 23rd August 2026

Head out from Bingley Arts Centre in the town centre and bear right past the covered market building and its old buttercross, continuing towards the car park where Queen Street curves round to the steps leading down to the Riverside Walk. Head down and, at the bottom, look for a stone plaque set into the ground inscribed “The Throstles Nest of Old England Bingley". Turn left here, keeping the River Aire beside you as you follow the path all the way to Myrtle Park, where you’ll find the Festival of Britain Bridge, a green tubular iron structure. Cross it and turn right immediately after the bridge, walking in the meadow on the other side of the river. This will take you into some wooded area. The path then runs along a private lake before arriving at Harden Road. Cross the road carefully and enter on Altar Lane, which is directly opposite.

Note: see the walk Discovering Bingley: Walk to Gilstead Crag & Gilstead Moor for more info about the town centre features.

In terms of direction, this is rather easy: keep going until you reach a fork in the path. However, we won’t lie to you: going up Altar Lane can be exhausting. Over a relatively short distance (1km), you will go from an altitude of 100m to 230m.

Once you’ve reached the fork, we recommend that you take a small detour to go and see Druid’s Altar. So turn right into the heather where you should find a track which will lead you towards some big rock boulders in the distance. Once there, climb up the rocks – be careful not to fall, stay away from the edge – and you will have some fantastic views over the Aire Valley, stretching from Ilkley Moor to Baildon Moor. Once you’ve seen enough, retrace your steps to the fork in the path. You want to carry on up Altar Lane with a stone wall on your left. At the end of Altar Lane, you will arrive at a crossroads with Keighley Road / Harden Road.

Cross the road with care as there is a bit of a blind spot and cars might not see you there. Go straight on the track towards a horse riding centre. There is a gate across the track – please make sure you close it behind you. At the end of the track, you will arrive at a fork; take the right-hand path. Do not go through the gate on your left. The path should start curving left and you will have great views over the Worth Valley and Keighley in the background.

You will then arrive at a fork – keep walking on Beck Shaw Lane, which is the better track, going slightly to the left. Do not enter Harden Moor through the kissing gate at this point. Pass the farm entrance on your left and then when the track bends 90 degrees to the left, take a right turn through the wooded area. There’s a path and a gate, then you walk up the hill to arrive on Harden Moor. There is a great view to have over St Ives Estate and beyond if you climb the rock on top of the hill.

There are many paths on Harden Moor and it’s easy to get lost. From the rocks, take a turn towards the south. You should see some electricity pylons in the distance. Keep walking towards the one closest to the edge of the moor. Before you reach the pylons, you should come across the Harden Moor Stone Circle. This Neolithic landmark is actually a small ring cairn. Please leave only footprints and take only pictures! When you leave the place, head towards the electricity pylons, passing beneath the lines, until you reach the dry stone wall at the edge of the moor. Once there, take a right turn and follow the wall, which should now be on your left-hand side.

After you reach the end of the dry stone wall, the path will start going down and it will veer left slightly. Keep going left and go through a small wooded area which will lead you towards the back of a property’s garden. The path follows the fence of the property to finally arrive on a track leading into the hamlet of Ryecroft. This beautiful settlement has some magnificent views over the Harden Valley. At the end of the track, you will arrive at Ryecroft Road. Cross the road and find an opening in the wall, marked with a footpath sign, that leads into a field.

Once in the field, make your way down the track with a dry stone wall on your right-hand side towards a farm in the distance. Despite walking above the B6429 road, the views are still really nice. Once you arrive at the end of the field, you will have to go through a first gate. Soon after you pass the farm, you will have to go through a second gate. After a short while, take a path turning left. Go all the way down the path until you see a farm on your right and soon you will reach the B6429 road. Take a right turn and walk down towards Cullingworth until you reach “Hunters Green".

Across the B6429 road, you should see a footpath sign. Cross the road carefully and take that path. It will run just above the Cow House Beck, a tributary of Harden Beck. This area is really pleasant and is a mix of open meadows and wooded area – a small heaven for wildlife too. However, this is private land, so make sure that all the gates are closed behind you. When you reach a junction of paths, take left through a gate and you will now walk in an open field. From there, you should see a static caravan park, and in the distance a strange tower near some electricity pylons. Go towards it.

The tower is actually the remnant of a chimney belonging to the former Goit Stock Mill (this is located as “Chy" on the Ordnance Survey map). Past the chimney, you will see a gate leading into Leech Lane. You’ll see the old mill workers’ cottages lined up on the left. In summer, a magnificent purple vine adorns their front. Carry on along the lane and just before the bend, look for a path turning right. It goes down into a small wooded area towards a small stream which you will cross at some point. After the stream and the wooded area, you will enter a field with a dry stone wall on your left. Follow the path along the wall towards a farm in the distance. Once at the farm, take the track going left. After a short while, you will notice the roofs of the former, imposing Harden Hall on your right. Carry on along the track until you reach Wilsden Road in Harden.

Turn right here and follow the pavement to Harden Beck – there’s no pavement across the bridge itself, so take care as you cross.

Note: The Malt Shovel pub sits just over the bridge, a traditional public house known for homemade food – perfect if you fancy a break on this walk!

Rather than following busy Harden Lane from here, head up Mill Hill Top instead, which brings you out at Bingley Garden Centre – formerly known as Stephen H. Smith’s Garden & Leisure Centre.

Note: another good spot for a break – we’d recommend the café, Hattie’s Restaurant.

Where the Garden Centre’s main car park entrance meets Harden Lane, cross over to a recently repaired kissing gate in the wall opposite. The path was temporarily closed due to flooding but has now been improved. From the gate, follow the path down to a wooden bridge over Mytholme Beck, cross it, then go through the next gate and turn left onto a steep path. Choose between the main path, which passes beneath a building, or the steeper climb with a wall on your left-hand side. Either way, you’ll come out at the top by the entrance of a working quarry, joining Lee Lane, a tarmacked road. Continue past Banktop Farm until you see a footpath sign pointing left into a field – this is the start of the Millennium Way towards Black Hills.

Crossing the fields, you’ll spot Norr Hill away to your right before the path takes you into Black Hills woods, right up to a crossroads. Bear left here onto a rough, steep descent that brings you back out into the open. From this point the views really open up, with the whole of Harden Valley and St Ives Estate laid out opposite you. Keep to the field edge, veering right, before crossing a stile into Shipley Golf Course. From here, the white rocks mark the way to Beckfoot Lane; follow them down to a footbridge over Harden Beck, then bear right for the old pack horse bridge.

Beckfoot Pack Horse Bridge is worth a pause – few spots in Bingley are as charming. Cross back over the beck, pass a cluster of houses, then pick up the tarmac road running past the allotments. Take the footpath on your left, keeping the allotments beside you as it leads on to Myrtle Park. Cross the River Aire via the large steel bridge into the park. Head through the park, past the playground and cenotaph, and out the far side. You’ll pass Bingley Swimming Pool on your left and the Lidl supermarket on your right before the town centre and Bingley Arts Centre come back into view.

Note: we recommend that you stop at Market Square Tavern in the Town Market Square for refreshments before leaving Bingley.

Have you done this walk yourself? Don’t hesitate to give us some feedback by leaving a comment below!