The Tabular Hills are an east west line of distinct hills on the southern boundary of the North Yorkshire Moors, running from Scarborough in the east all the way to Black Hambleton in the west. The name refers to their flat tabular shaped summits composed of hard Corallian limestone

Corallian Limestone

Corallian Limestone is a coralliferous sedimentary rock, laid down in Jurassic times. It is a hard variety of "coral rag". Building stones from this geological structure tend to be irregular in shape. It is often found close to seams of Portland Limestone...

 known locally as "nabs". They form the northern boundary of the Vale of Pickering

Vale of Pickering

The Vale of Pickering is a low-lying flat area of land in North Yorkshire, England. It is drained by the River Derwent. The landscape is rural with scattered villages and small market towns. It has been inhabited continuously from the Mesolithic period...

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Description

Steep sided river valleys break through the Tabular Hills to form a broken series of tablet shaped hills. The hills' most distinctive feature is their northern escarpment

Escarpment

An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that occurs from erosion or faulting and separates two relatively level areas of differing elevations.-Description and variants:...

, which rises up to 200 ft above the moorland to the north. At their western end, beyond the River Rye

River Rye, Yorkshire

The River Rye is a river in the English county of North Yorkshire. It rises just south of the Cleveland Hills, east of Osmotherley, and flows through Hawnby, Rievaulx, Helmsley, Nunnington, West and East Ness, Butterwick, Brawby, and Ryton, before joining the River Derwent at near Malton.On some...

, the hills join with the north south Hambleton Hills

Hambleton Hills

The Hambleton Hills are a range of hills in North Yorkshire in the United Kingdom. They form the western edge of the North Yorkshire Moors but are separated from the moors by the valley of the River Rye...

 which have a similar geological basis.

Striking among the river valleys are Newton Dale and Forge Valley which are glacial run-off channels formed when huge amounts of melt water denied an exit to the North Sea by glacial ice poured over the lowest points in the landscape during the last ice age cutting steeply incised channels. The Hole of Horcum

Hole of Horcum

The Hole of Horcum is a section of the valley of the Levisham Beck, upstream of Levisham and Lockton, in the Tabular Hills of the North York Moors of northern England. The hollow is 400ft deep and stretches 3/4 of a mile across...

 is an unusual scallop shaped valley formed by the action of a line of springs.

Tabular Hills walk

The Tabular Hills walk links the two southerly ends of the Cleveland Way National Trail

Cleveland Way

The Cleveland Way is a National Trail in ancient Cleveland in Northern England. It runs 110 miles from Helmsley to Filey, skirting the North York Moors National Park.-History:The trail was opened in 1969...

, enabling walkers to walk the complete perimeter of The North York Moors National Park.
The walk runs from Helmsley

Helmsley

Helmsley is a market town and civil parish in the Ryedale district of North Yorkshire, England. The town is located at the point where the valleys of Bilsdale and Ryedale leave the higher moorland and join the flat Vale of Pickering. It is situated on the River Rye and lies on the A170 road, east...

 in the west to Scalby Mills on the North Sea coast. The route measures 50 miles (80 km) and wanders through sparsely settled countryside between Scalby and Levisham

Levisham

Levisham is a small village and civil parish in the Ryedale district of North Yorkshire, England, located on the North Yorkshire Moors about 5 miles north of Pickering. It has a station on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway. Nearby villages include Newton-on-Rawcliffe and Lockton.Heartbeat actress...

, then includes the villages of Newton-on-Rawcliffe

Newton-on-Rawcliffe

Newton-on-Rawcliffe is a village and civil parish in the Ryedale district of North Yorkshire, England. It is in the North Riding Forest Park, north of Pickering.-External links:...

, Cropton

Cropton

Cropton is a village and civil parish in the Ryedale district of North Yorkshire, England. It is on the border of the North Riding Forest Park, 2 miles north west of PickeringCropton Brewery is located to the rear of the New Inn on the edge of the village....

, Appleton-le-Moors

Appleton-le-Moors

Appleton-le-Moors is a village and civil parish in the Ryedale district of North Yorkshire, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 183. The village is in the North York Moors National Park, and is near to Pickering and Kirkby Moorside....

, Hutton-le-Hole

Hutton-le-Hole

Hutton-le-Hole is a very small village and civil parish in the Ryedale district of North Yorkshire, England, about seven miles north west of Pickering. Hutton-le-Hole is a honeypot village...

, Gillamoor

Gillamoor

Gillamoor is a village and civil parish in the Ryedaledistrict of the county of North Yorkshire, England. It is situated about three miles north of Kirkbymoorside on the edge of the North York Moors National Park. It is an attractive stone-built village typical of the area.Gillamoor is well-known...

, Fadmoor

Fadmoor

Fadmoor is a village and civil parish in the Ryedale district of North Yorkshire, England. It is on the border of the North Yorkshire Moors and north of Kirkbymoorside....

 and Carlton

Carlton

- Places :Australia* Carlton, New South Wales* Carlton, VictoriaCanada* Carlton, Saskatchewan, a hamlet* Fort Carlton, a replica of an original Fur Trading post of Hudson Bay Company built in 1810...

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External links

• Tabular Hills Walk Long Distance Walkers Association. Accessed August 2010