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About Brimham Rocks
Free to enter, Yorkshire’s spectacle of Brimham Rocks makes you feel like a child even when you’re an adult with giant weird and wonderful rock formations, created by a huge braided river system 320 million years ago – that’s 100 million years before the first dinosaurs roamed the earth. Since that time the river has gone, and millions of years of ice, rain and wind erosion have created magnificent shapes that resemble familiar creatures.
Many of the iconic rock formations can be explored only a 10 minutes’ walk from the car park. It takes around four hours to explore all of this fascinating site, with its magnificent landscape and sympathetically managed environment.
At the Refreshment Kiosk, there’s an excellent range of picnic food and ice cream.
Brimham Rocks Dog Rules
Dogs are welcome at Brimham Rocks but on leads only from April to June to protect ground-nesting birds.
Brimham Rocks Names
Walking from the car park, following the footpaths you’ll be able to see and explore the following list :
- Surprise View
- Cannon Rocks
- Blacksmith’s Anvil
- Smartie Tube
- Watchdog
- Lover’s leap
- Eagle
- Castle Rock
- Visitor Centre, Refreshment and Toilets
- Dancing Bear
- Turtle
- Druid’s Writing Desk
- Idol
- Yoke of Oxen and Baboon
- Rocking stones
- Oyster Shell
- Flowerpot
- Mushroom Rock
- Middle Crags
Many of the rock formations are named after their unusual shapes and offer an imaginative range of routes for you to explore. When Exploring Brimham Rocks, try spotting Dancing Bear, Gorilla, Eagle and the Turtle – and crawl through the Smartie Tube and balance on the Rocking Stones if you’re agile enough! Walk over heather moorland or through the beautiful woodland, and take in the fresh air and beautiful Yorkshire countryside.
Brimham Rocks with its 400-acre Heather Moorland are Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). Families and dogs love the freedom to explore this amazing Yorkshire place – it is also a magnet for geologists, naturalists, climbers and walkers.
Brimham’s varied and dramatic natural landscape makes it one of Yorkshire’s best spots for climbing. Try weaseling, bouldering and rope climbing for a great way to keep fit and enjoy the outdoors. However, note that Pitons or any climbing equipment which may damage the rocks can not be used. Cycling and mountain biking is not permitted at Brimham Rocks. BBQs, gas burners and open fires are not permitted at Brimham Rocks and the surrounding 400 acre moorland.
Brimham Rocks Balancing Act Poem
The Poet Laureate Simon Armitage was commissioned by the National Trust to write Balancing Act which encapsulates what Brimham Rocks is and why it is such an important place for visitors, nature and wildlife.
The Balancing Act poem at Brimham Rocks by Simon Armitage describes the rocks as “flaunting their alien shapes”.
The carving, completed in June 2023 is a permanent installation of two large locally sourced stones, each containing a verse of the poem is located next to the rocks on North Moor offering a place of contemplation and reflection.
In planning documents for the poem artwork installation at Brimham Rocks, The National Trust stated: “The site location has been purposefully selected as a means to draw people in to experience the wider landscape of Brimham beyond the visitor focus of the rocks. The position selected is one which is in an accessible location close to an existing footpath and an area which allows the transition from the rocks to the moorland and wider countryside to be fully appreciated.”
Brimham Rocks Opening Times
- Closed 24 and 25 December
- Toilets are open 10am – 4pm daily (Not Christmas Eve & Christmas day).
Brimham Rocks Sat Nav, Brimham Rocks Car Park and Location
Address: Brimham Moor Road, Summerbridge, Harrogate, North Yorkshire, HG3 4DW (note that your Sat Nav may give the approximate location, watch out for car park signs when very close)
11 miles from Harrogate off B6165, 4 miles from Pateley Bridge off B6265
- Car park £6 for 4 hours, £9 per day
- Minibusses £12 (booking essential) Tel: 01423 780688
- Motorhomes (6m and over) £12
- Coaches (booking essential) £18 Tel: 01423 780688
- Motorcycles free.
- National Trust members get free parking – scan your membership card at car park machines.
Brimham Rocks By Bus
Sundays and Bank Holidays (May – September): 825 Eastern Dales Bus runs between Harrogate, Brimham Rocks and Fountains Abbey: www.dalesbus.org/825.html
Daily bus 24 from Harrogate to Pateley Bridge passes Summerbridge with a 1.5-mile walk to Brimham Rocks. www.harrogatebus.co.uk
For details of all local buses: www.dalesbus.org or call Traveline 0871 200 2233
Brimham Rocks Adventure Farm
Via Brimham Rocks Road this petting farm is 4 minutes away (1.6 miles)
Fiddlers Green,
Harrogate,
North Yorkshire,
HG3 3HB
For those with children to add to your day out, the nearby Brimham Rocks Adventure Petting Farm has:
- Pygmy goats
- Boer goats
- Calves
- Sheep
- Miniature donkeys
- Miniature Shetland ponies
- Micro pigs
- Pietrain pigs
- Hens
- Turkeys
- Peafowl
This nearby farm is a wonderful place for all ages, it’s a place to be able to get close to animals in a safe environment that you or your children may never have seen or touched before.
The soft play area has a designated baby section, and the mainframe is suitable for under 12s. They also have three little role play areas for children to be able to play dressing up. Their home kitchen and construction zone are also popular areas for the children to play in.
Animal fun:
- Meet the friendly animals on the farm, both in the animal barn and in the field.
- Get hands on with activities from their daily timetable
Indoor:
- Burn of some energy come rain or shine in their indoor soft playarea
- Have fun building and demolishing in their construction area
- Little ones can enjoy a play in their baby soft play area
Outdoor:
- Outdoor climbing play area
- Build sandcastles in the sandpit
Education is the very heart of why the farm exists. Mondays* and Tuesdays* are dedicated solely to educational groups of all sizes.
There is a small café area on-site serving freshly made light lunches, a selection of cakes and slices, Ice cream and coffee. They do not serve chips, offering healthier potato alternatives.
Brimham Rocks Adventure Farm Admission Prices:
Babies – Free
Children under 2 – £3
Children 2 and over – £6
Adults – £5
Group discounts:
- Group of 4 – £20
- Group of 5 – £24.50
- Group of 6 – £27
Brimham Rocks Adventure Farm Opening Times
- Monday: Closed* (Educational groups only)
- Tuesday: Closed* (Educational groups only)
- Wednesday: 10am – 5pm
- Thursday: 10am – 5pm
- Friday: 10am – 5pm
- Saturday: 10am – 5pm
- Sunday: 10am – 5pm
Adventure Farm Tel : 01423 779759
Adventure Farm email: info@brimhamrocksadventurefarm.co.uk
And for your further ideas about days out in Yorkshire explore our website including……………
Hebden Bridge with its dozens of independent shops and bars and Happy Valley filming locations; Happy Valley country pubs, Halifax with its stunning historic Piece Hall with bars, gigs and restaurants; Halifax’s Eureka! the National Children’s Museum, Halifax Town Hall, Gentleman Jack’s Shibden Hall and Shibden Park with its attractions including a miniature railway, boating lake, cafe, folk museum and dry stone wall exhibition and the Victorian Wainhouse Tower, the tallest folly in the world; and Cromwell Bottom Nature Reserve on the River Calder near Elland and Brighouse.