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Gormire Lake is a natural lowland lake that lies at the foot of Whitestone Cliff, a western escarpment of the Hambleton Hills

cracking view across the reservoir

Meaning "filthy swamp", there are many local legends and myths surrounding this lake, such as it is bottomless (it is 6.5m deep) and was created by an earthquake that swallowed a village resulting in the lake today (it is a glacial lake).

Well worth taking the path down from the Cleveland Way to Gormire Lake, where you can enjoy the peace of the ancient woodland that is Garbutt Wood Nature Reserve.

The public footpath down to the nature reserve from the Cleveland Way (at the location on OS maps marked as "Great Relief Pot") is reasonably steep, but can be very narrow in places with short wooden planks driven into the ground along the downward side of the path, presumably to prevent the path from eroding and collapsing. In other places there are plenty of stones and tree roots to help stabilise your ascent/descent. As you approach Gormire Lake look out for a very curious and quite large boulder that is almost an 8-10 foot high perfect cube. The nature reserve consists of ancient woodland and is very peaceful. Easy to access the water's edge at Gormire Lake.

Easy parking (ice cream van in summer!) at Sheep Wash, great path through the coniferous wood running along the southern edge of the reservoir, awesome views, cool breeze across the water, option to follow numerous tracks east into the woods around Cote Garth and Golden Square. Lots of familys, dog walkers and hikers - something for everyone here.

Left for the local wildlife, this reservoir's banks can be quite overgrown in summer, making it difficult to see.

You can also get a different view of the reservoir if you approach along the footpath from east of Pond Head Farm .