6 miles 1050ft ascent approx time 4½ hours.
The Isaac’s Tea Trail has been adapted to fashion this inter-hostel route between Alston and Ninebank Youth Hostels. Starting with the Tea Trail the routes breaks off to straddle the moor then reconnects to complete the journey.
This unique journey showcases the area’s distinctive mix of riverside, woodland, dale pasture and moorland terrain. In summer months expect to hear the evocative and beguiling call of curlew and oyster catchers almost everywhere, so characteristic of this North Pennines National Landscape.
Walking between hostels: the route from Alston YH and YHA Ninebanks
Devised, curated, and illustrated by © Mark Richards 2025