Red Scar Lane, Station Road and North Bay Promenade
This is about as flat as trail running gets in this part of Yorkshire, which makes it the route to reach for on a fast-effort day or when you're carrying a niggle that a hillier route would aggravate.
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A gentle 14.9km loop linking Red Scar Lane and Station Road with Scarborough's North Bay promenade, around 150m of climbing over the whole route.
This is about as flat as trail running gets in this part of Yorkshire, which makes it the route to reach for on a fast-effort day or when you're carrying a niggle that a hillier route would aggravate.
The route
This loop links Red Scar Lane and Station Road on the northern edge of Scarborough with a stretch of the North Bay promenade, climbing gently away from the seafront onto rising residential lanes before returning to the coast. With around 150m of total climbing across 14.9km, it stays gentle without being genuinely flat — the lanes roll enough to keep it honest.
Gentle, not flat
The combination of quiet residential lanes, Station Road's gentle gradient and the level promenade keep the climbing gentle and spread out, though this is not a dead-flat route — expect a steady rise away from the seafront before you drop back to it. That makes it a genuinely useful option for tempo efforts, recovery days, or simply testing pace without terrain getting in the way of the numbers.
The promenade section
Joining North Bay's seafront for part of the loop gives this route its only real scenery beyond suburban lanes - open sea to one side, the North Bay attractions and gardens to the other. It's a reliable stretch for picking up the pace once the lane sections are behind you.
Who it suits
This is a strong option for anyone easing back into running after injury, or wanting a genuinely predictable surface for structured pace work. The lack of climbing removes one variable entirely, leaving just distance and effort to manage.
Getting it right
Given how flat and straightforward this route is, the main things to watch for are shared-path traffic on the promenade in summer and the usual coastal flood risk during storms and high tides. Otherwise this is as low-commitment as routes on this list get, and a good one to keep in reserve for days when the moors and coast path further out are best left for another time.
The promenade section sits within a coastal flood warning area during storm surges and high spring tides. Shared path traffic with walkers and cyclists on the seafront in summer.
Leave No Trace
- Leave nothing but footprints, take nothing but memories.
- Please respect the countryside and all its inhabitants.
- Dogs on leads near livestock, and around ground-nesting birds from March to July.
- Gates as you find them — open or closed, leave it that way for the farmer and the next runner.
- Take it all home — wrappers, peel, tissue, the lot. It doesn't count as biodegradable if you can still see it.
- Stick to the path where the ground either side is wet, planted, or nesting habitat.
Common questions
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