Walk from the car park down to the red and blue metal flags at the top of the park. Turn right down to a bridge, there swinging left onto an island in the centre of the canoe slalom course. Walk on over a second bridge, bearing right and then left onto a riverside path. Before walking away, look back to the Barrage, which was completed in 1995 at a cost of £54 million. The four 50-ton gates control the river flow and help prevent flooding. Upstream, it has created 11 miles (17.7km) of freshwater, which is used for a wide variety of leisure activities, while the whitewater slalom course has hosted world champion canoe competitions. Follow the riverside path downstream through the Portrack Marsh nature reserve. Continue beneath a bridge carrying the A19 and on to the Tees Newport Bridge. Built by Dorman Long, it was the first vertical lift bridge in Britain, the deck being raised to let shipping pass upriver. It was opened in 1934, but with the decline in shipping, the bridge was decommissioned in 1990 and is now permanently down.

Climb steps to the road and cross the bridge, dropping right on the far side back to the river. Swing left at the bottom to pass beneath the bridge and continue downstream for another 1.5 miles (2.4km). The land beside the riverbank here has been reclaimed from the former Newport Iron Works, which were founded in 1864, while on the far side are the chemical complexes at Billingham. The riverside path eventually sweeps around a right-hand bend to reach a blue and white 'End of Cycleway' sign. Turn right and walk away at the edge of Teesaurus Park – formerly a slag heap but now home to metal dinosaurs lurking in the trees.

Reaching the road, go left. Keep ahead at a roundabout, shortly coming to a crossroads near the Transporter Bridge. An iconic symbol of Teesside, it was built between 1907 and 1911 and still carries up to 750 people and 600 vehicles above the Tees every day, the crossing taking just 2.5 minutes. Turn right and walk up to Albert Bridge, where the station entrance is then just to the right. Take the train west one stop to Thornaby. 

At Thornaby Station climb up to the footbridge and go right, dropping out onto Station Street. Cross right to a path beside a tyre and auto centre, which leads through to another street. Turn left to a roundabout and turn right along Yale Crescent. Crossing a bridge, go right and left to walk along Westpoint Road towards Stockton town centre. Continue beyond the end on another short path to emerge at a roundabout. Head right along University Boulevard to the next roundabout and go left, bearing right onto Infinity Bridge across the river. When lit up at night, the bridge with its reflection in the river appears as an infinity symbol.

Back on the north bank, double back to the river and head downstream to return to the Tees Barrage. At a fork keep right above the water intake for the slalom course. Continue beneath the barrage bridge and walk up to the car park.

Ignore the bridleway sign opposite the parking area and head back along the lane. Branch off right after 150yds (137m) by a Pennine Way signpost along an indistinct path slanting up across Cotherstone Moor. Marked by occasional wayposts, the trod passes right of Burners Hills, crossing a succession of drainage ditches. Climb on past the western tributary of Duck Sike, aiming for a Pennine Way signpost that becomes visible on the skyline. The way finally rises to a gate and stile beside the post at the corner of a wall and fence on the shoulder of Race Yate, the highest point attained during the walk.

Pass through the gate and follow the wall forward for 100yds (91m) to another gate. A faint trod, marked as a bridleway, leads away left to the east, initially runing parallel to a fence over to the left. In time, a low scar develops, the ground falling away more steeply below to give a grand view across Deep Dale to the hills of the northern Yorkshire Dales. The path runs along the top of the lip, gently descending along Ladyfold Rigg.

After almost 1.75 miles (2.8km) the way leads to a gate in a crossing boundary. Turn left on a faint path that runs more or less beside the right-hand wall, which a little further along marks the western boundary of the Battle Hill MOD firing range. Carry on for 0.5 miles (800m) to a wall corner near the ruins of West Loups's farmstead.

Go through the left-hand one of the two gates there and bear half left to pick up a clearer path that descends across the moor towards the distinctive hill of Goldsborough. Keep going beyond a post marking a junction to a high-railed bridge crossing Yawd Sike. The path then swings left, shortly approaching the impressive crags of Goldsborough. A faint path off to the right offers a detour onto the summit to appreciate the view. 

Return to the main path and continue northwestwards, the path dropping beyond the crest to reveal the view into Baldersdale. Lower down where the path forks, take the left branch. Carry on to the lane and walk left back to the parking area.

Head across the dam. At the far end, turn sharp left on a gravel track down to the former Youth Hostel of Blackton Grange. Through the yard, follow the ongoing grass track to a junction near Blackton Bridge. Turn right over Hunder Beck and climb through a gate along the Pennine Way. 

A short distance along, at a three-way signpost beside the first bend, leave ahead on a path across the hillside. Criss a stile in the corner and bear left across two more pastures before reaching a footbridge over How Sike. Climb towards the far top corner of the next enclosure and walk on parallel to the wall on your right. Maintain the same heading from field to field, passing below West Friar House to reach East Friar House. 

Walk on beside a small barn and behind the farmhouse, crossing a track to a wall stile. Carry on across the head of two more fields and then bear half left to a stile beside the lower gate in the far wall. Keep going to pass left of a barn and join the wall downhill to a stile in the bottom corner. Follow a service track right above upper Hury Reservoir to a car park. 

Double back left down to the lakes and turn right over the spillway and dam. At the far side, swing left above the lake, rising at the end to a gate beside the dam. 

Turn immediately right through a second gate and head half left to a gate in the distant corner. Go right beside old hawthorns, swinging left in the corner alongside another outgrown hedge. Beyond, pass left of a barn and continue beside two more fields, the wall first on your right then the left. A walled drove leads to a footbridge over Blind Beck. Keep ahead across more pastures, following the left wall in the fourth field down to Low Birk Hat. Leave through a gate at the bottom and go right out to a drive.

Turn up right beside Hannah's Meadows. At the top of the second meadow, go left along a wooden walkway to a restored barn containing a display of old farm implements. Leaving the barn, turn left and keep left behind it to climb to a gate in the top corner by High Birk Hat Farm. Walk left through the yard to a gate at the far end. Keep right, skirting behind the barn to a stile tucked in the corner. Bear left to a stile part way up the end wall and cross a final rough pasture back to the car park. 

Leave the bottom of the car park onto Newgate. Cross left to a narrow passage behind St Mary's Church and continue along a street beside the open grass of the Demesnes.

Halfway down, turn left on a stony track – the Teesdale Way to Abbey Bridge. It angles to the river to pass Demesnes Mill.

Carry on beside grazing, passing left of a ruined barn but then curving back to the river. A track leads on past a sewage works to more riverside pastures beyond. Remain beside the Tees in the third field to a kissing gate in the corner. The path rises above a narrowing wooded gorge to emerge onto a lane. Go right over Abbey Bridge.

Turn right again, the lane passing Egglestone Abbey to reach Bow Bridge. The original packhorse bridge is just to the left. Climb with the lane for another 200yds (183m) to find a signposted squeeze stile on the right. Walk on from field to field by the right hedge, eventually meeting a crossing track.

Head down right to a caravan park, keeping left with the perimeter drive to the bottom. As it swings right above the river, double back left to find the Teesdale Way leaving from the corner. Dropping right, the path runs on above the river, eventually becoming metalled past houses and reaching a footbridge.

Cross the river into town. Keep ahead up Thorngate, turning left at the top by The Blue Bell into Bridgegate. As that then swings over the County Bridge climb ahead and then right below the castle walls. Carry on past the castle entrance, curving right to emerge in the town.

Turn right along Horse Market and Market Place to the octagonal Market Cross. Keep ahead down The Bank to see Blagraves House, partway down on the left. Take the narrow alleyway just above it, which leads through to the top corner of the Demesnes. Turn left back up to Newgate and the car park.

From the forestry information board in the car park follow orange walking trail markers towards Bedburn Beck. Swing right along a broad gravel path past more parking and picnic areas.

Reaching a crossing path, go left over a bridge and climb the forest trail beyond to a junction. Turn left, but after only 100yds (91m), look for a narrow path leaving right into the trees. Head straight up the hillside, eventually emerging onto a broad trail. Walk right, passing beside a barrier onto a lane at Windy Bank.

Follow the lane to the right for a little over 0.25 miles (400m). Bear off left by an orange waymarker past a barrier along a trail rising gently into the forest. After another 0.5 miles (800m), watch for a waypost on the right marking a path dropping steeply through the wood. Curving left towards the bottom, it comes out onto a lane. 

Cross to the continuing path opposite, which leads to a small footbridge over Bedburn Beck. Wind right and then down steps to meet another trail. Go left and turn out onto the forest drive. Follow it left over a bridge, leaving immediately beyond on a path to the right. Meeting another path from the drive, turn right and follow it beside the stream to a bridge by The Grove car park.

Don't cross, but instead climb right along a tarmac drive. Later degrading to gravel, it rises to the edge of the forest overlooking open pastures. Carry on past a house and then a junction, the way now gently cresting the shoulder of the hill. Passing into trees at the far end of the open ground, bear right past boulders at the side of an adjacent forestry track and descend more steeply.

Cross a footbridge over Ayhope Beck at the bottom and walk up past a picnic area and the ruin of Metcalf's House to a junction. Turn right along a path contouring through the trees. Eventually meeting a tarmac forest road, go left. Reaching a fork, branch up left past foresters' cottages and a barrier to another junction. 

Turn off right along a gravel path. Ignore a cycle path from the right, but at the next junction, bear right, now heading downhill and finally dropping out to the main forest drive. Go left past the visitor centre and cafe back to the car park. 

Walk towards Rookhope, leaving at a stile on the right opposite the Blanchland road. Cross a footbridge and climb to a stile on the left from which a path follows the course of an old railway from the ironstone quarries at the head of the valley. Carry on past cottages, ultimately emerging in a yard by an auto-workshop. Go left across Rookhope Burn into the village.

Turn right to pass the Rookhope Inn. At the bend, leave left on a gravel track signed as NCR 7 to Waskerley. Keep right at successive forks, but after going through a gate, ignore a track off right and settle into a steady plod up the Boltslaw Incline. 

Broaching the crest, carry on past the ruins of the winding and engine houses. Now level, the ongoing track emerges from a cutting to describe a gentle curve across the open moor. Keep going for 0.5 miles (800m) to approach a sprawling sheep fold to the right of the track.

There is no waymarker or obvious path, but, just before this, bear left off the track. Head north across the heather moor for 350yds (320m) to a stile in a fence that soon comes into view. Cross it and keep the same heading, following a shallow trough that leads to a junction of paths marked by a tall post another 600yds (549m) further on.

Turn sharp left and follow an obvious path which climbs to the top of the hill where, through a gate, the trig column stands just to the right. The onward path continues ahead, gently losing height across the moor. After nearly 0.75 miles (1.2km), pass through a gate. Just beyond, a quad track joins from the left. The temptation is to follow, but where it almost immediately bends right, keep ahead to pick up a shallow groove across the trackless heather and moss. Maintain your line for another 0.5 miles (800m) to emerge onto a lane above the head of Stogel Cleugh.

Walk downhill to the left. After 0.5 miles (800m) at a sharp bend, leave ahead beside a signpost marking the Leadmining Trail. The path quickly fades, but keep forward, dropping past a lone waymarker to rejoin the lane lower down at another bend. Continue downhill to a junction at the bottom of the hill. Turn right, back to the lay-by. 

Walk towards Rookhope, leaving at a stile on the right opposite the Blanchland road. Cross a footbridge and climb past a white farmhouse. Swing left beside it and leave right along its drive to a track. Follow the track left. Go through gates and keep left and then right at successive forks to another white cottage (Lintzgarth).

Just beyond, go left through a gate. Descend to the bottom-right field corner and strike across the hillside towards Broad Dale House. Exiting the third field over a stile in the corner, walk past the front of the house to a wooden stile (not a stone stile to the right). Bear left past a derelict cottage, dropping along a slanting trod towards Rookhope.

Over a ladder stile at the bottom, go forward then turn right past an auto-workshop. Ignoring branches off left, follow the ongoing track, the bed of an old railway, for 0.75 miles (1.2km) to Smailsburn Farm. The track rises beyond along an embankment towards the corner of a plantation.

At a junction below the trees, turn off left. Head away paralleling the right-hand wall across rough pasture, a vague trod leading to a ruined building. Continue downhill, mounting a stile at the bottom onto a lane. Go left, leaving just after a small lay-by over a ladder stile on the right. Drop to a footbridge spanning the river, cross a stile and bear right up the opposite hillside. Passing through an old hedge, swing left and climb to a stile onto another lane.

Cross to a kissing gate diagonally opposite and head up beside the right-hand wall. In the next field, curve left towards a gate into Pasture House Farm. Walk ahead between the buildings and leave through another gate.

Following power posts, carry on across the field towards the next farm, Chestergarth House. Walk behind the buildings on a track to adjacent gates at the far end. Take the small left-hand one and continue past a large barn. Angle downfield to a kissing gate in the far-bottom corner to meet a lane. Go right and then keep right at a junction into Rookhope.

Wind past the Rookhope Inn and over a bridge before turning off left beside a Weardale Way signpost. Follow the track over Rookhope Burn into the yard by the auto-workshop. Now turn right on a signed footpath, following the course of an old railway upstream. Continue past cottages, eventually reaching a stile by the footbridge below Lintzgarth. Cross and turn right to return to the lay-by.

From the car park, turn right towards the village. Approaching the bridge, drop left to a riverside path and follow it upstream. Later emerging into a field, keep ahead through a couple of gates to a lane. Take the track opposite beside cottages to a kissing gate. Continue across grazing towards more cottages, leaving along a track past them. Where it bends left, bear right through a gate, crossing a small garden to a footbridge. Over a ladder stile, carry on beside the River Wear, eventually climbing steps to the A689 at Daddryshield Bridge.

The path continues opposite, returning to follow the river. Ultimately meeting a narrow lane beside a ford and footbridge, swing away from the river, keeping left at a fork to reach the main road in St John's Chapel. Turn right and walk through the village.

Approaching the far end of the village, bear  right at a footpath sign on a track, dropping beneath an old railway bridge to a ford and footbridge. On the far bank wind left then right up to a cottage. Turn left beside it and keep ahead over a small bridge. Go through a kissing gate and carry on along the edge of a couple of fields above the river. Beyond a squeeze stile in the corner, join a path arriving over a bridge. Continue beside the river for another 0.25 miles (400m) to emerge onto a lane next to Coronation Bridge.

Climb steeply right to New House, ignoring a junction and rounding a sharp right-hand bend to a fork.

Bear right along the lane and follow this for 2 miles (3.2km), keeping left at a later fork to its ultimate end.

Follow a walled track left uphill for 0.5 miles (800m) before turning right at a junction. Descend steeply to Middlehope Burn. (If the burn is impassable, retrace your steps back to the junction of paths at the end of the lane. Continue straight ahead, following a track that takes you down the fields past Low Crooked Well and to the A689 where you turn left back to Westgate and the car park.)

Unless there's been heavy rain, you should get across dry-shod to a grass track leading away right. Keep ahead where it swings sharply left to follow a signed footpath down the valley. Stay on the left bank past the Slit Mine site, although lower down the path briefly switches to the opposite bank.

Finally emerge past cottages onto a lane and turn right back to the village. Turn left and right, crossing the River Wear to the car park.

Leave the car park at its lowest level by the river and turn right, climbing steps onto Elvet Bridge. It was built around 1170 by Bishop de Puiset to connect with his new suburb of Elvet. Don't cross but instead turn right and then swing left up steps into Saddler Street. After 150yds (137m), bear right up Owengate following signs for the Cathedral and Castle, to emerge at the edge of the Palace Green. Over to the right is the castle entrance, the Norman keep standing behind an 18th-century gateway. Guided tours include the Norman chapel and gallery and the Black Stair that leads from the medieval Great Hall to the 18th-century state rooms. It was here that the Prince Bishops of Durham held court. Their regal powers, which didn't end until 1832, allowed them to raise armies, mint coins, appoint judges and grant charters. Across Palace Green stands perhaps the greatest Norman cathedral in England. The main door by which you enter bears a fearsome lion-faced sanctuary ring and inside, the nave is lined by massive, carved pillars that support some of the earliest Gothic vaulting. St Cuthbert's shrine is to be found at the east end, near to the throne of the Prince Bishops, set high above the chancel. Bede's tomb lies in the delicate Galilee Chapel at the west end. Have a look too at the cloister and the monks' dormitory, or perhaps you might like to climb the 352 steps to the top of the tower for an unrivalled view over the city. Below in the undercroft, you will find the cathedral restaurant.

Emerging from the cathedral by the same door that you entered, turn right and leave the corner of the green along Dun Cow Lane. At the end, go right past the Durham Museum and Heritage Centre and then immediately left down Bow Lane, continuing over Kingsgate Bridge. On the far bank, walk out to the road and turn right up Church Street.

After 100yds (91m), bear off right past the war memorial into St Oswald's churchyard. Keep right at a fork and walk down to continue beside the river. Around the bend, carry on past the 18th-century Prebends' Bridge, just beyond which is a re-assembled pinnacle from the cathedral, replaced after its erosion by the elements. At a fork take the lower branch, passing behind the buildings of Durham School Boat Club. Beyond, a weir collected water for a fulling mill situated on the far bank. Pause to enjoy a classic view of the cathedral before continuing towards Framwellgate Bridge, erected by Bishop Flambard in 1128. Leave the riverbank up steps just before the bridge to emerge beside the Bishop Langley pub. 

Cross the bridge into the old city, but as the street then bends left, look for a narrow, stepped passageway leaving through an opening on the right signed to Saddler Street. Called Moatside Lane, it was used by medieval pilgrims climbing to the cathedral. Keep ahead at a junction then bend left to emerge on Saddler Street. Turn left, passing the steps up which you began the walk, and continue down to the Market Square. To return to the car park, go back up Saddler Street and turn left into High Street. The entrance to the car park is at the end on the right.

From a kissing gate below the car park, a broad track drops into the dene. Go forward at the first junction, but then fork right by a squirrel trailmark to undulate along the valley. Bear right at the next split, rising to continue beside the nature reserve boundary. Ignore a later crossing path and, when houses eventually end, keep ahead alongside a small meadow. At the far end the path curves left, descending steeply to the base of the valley.

Turn left along a trail which emerges from a tunnel beneath the road embankment. Pass through a gate, but after only 20yds (18m), drop right to a footbridge across Castle Eden Burn. Climb determinedly away, turning left at the top to walk back along the valley's southern rim. Before long, the path begins to lose height, shortly crossing a side stream. Lower down, ignore a path branching right and continue downhill to a bridge spanning the burn. Walk forward over a second bridge as the river loops tightly back. The ongoing path climbs to the right, undulating along the narrowing valley to Gunners Pool Bridge, which sits high above the narrowest part of the ravine.

After gazing into the precipitous depths, return to the south bank and continue with the path along the valley side. Beyond another side stream, the way rises once more to the upper rim. Ignore a path dropping back left and carry on to a gate at the edge of the nature reserve, from which there is a glimpse to the castle.

The route, however, remains within the reserve, curving back into the dene. After 300yds (274m) at a junction, bear right to then join a path from below. At the next fork, keep left along Miss Mary's Walk. Not far along, watch for a tree symbol waymark by an indistinct fork and branch off left on an undulating path through yew forest. Eventually, the way rises to join a path along the top of the gorge. Go left, walking for a short time below fields then winding around the head of a side valley to an information board.

Ignoring the path leaving over a stile, go left and descend to a three-way fork. Again keep left, winding steeply downhill to meet a broad trail beside the river, just upstream of Garden of Eden Bridge. 

Turn left, shortly passing two almost-touching boulders known as the Kissing Frog Stones. A little further along, another large boulder sprouting trees is the Devil's Lapstone. After crossing the river over Dungy Bridge, look right to see another fallen boulder, this one supported on stone pillars. The magnesian limestone cliffs are relatively soft and landslips periodically occur. Reaching a fork, bear right to climb along the valley side. At the top, turn sharp right back up to the car park.