Nature, Trails & Coastal Walks 🪨 Rocks & crags✓ Free

The Hitching Stone

📍 CowlingNorth Yorkshire

Said to be the biggest boulder in Yorkshire, a house-sized gritstone block on Keighley Moor.

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The Hitching Stone, Keighley Moor, near to Cowling, North Yorkshire, Great Britain. Supposedly the largest single boulder in Yorkshire and thought to have mythological significance. The site of annual — The Hitching Stone, Keighley Moor, near to Cowling, North Yorkshire, Great Britain. Supposedly the largest single boulder in Yorkshire and thought to have mythological significance. The site of annualPhoto: Richard Swales · CC BY-SA 2.0 · via Wikimedia Commons

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What’s free

Free to visit on the open moor

About

The Hitching Stone is a huge gritstone boulder on Keighley Moor near Cowling, about 29 feet long and 21 feet high. Look for the rectangular hole known as the Druid's Chair, and the bath-like hollow on the south side that fills with rainwater. Folklore says a witch on Ilkley Moor flung it here with her broomstick, and fairs were held beside it until 1870.

Opening times

Short moorland walk from the road above Cowling

Times can change, so check with the venue before a special trip.

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Checked by our editors on 13 Oct 2026.

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