Claypath put-in (mid)

The river here has carved a deep meander through Cathedral Sandstone, wrapping tightly around the elevated peninsula that carries Durham Cathedral and Castle. Paddlers on this loop pass beneath both from the water, with the wooded, steep-sided banks rising close on either side.

The banks are heavily wooded with mature trees, and the Weardale Way, a long-distance riverside path, tracks the water's edge through the city centre. The loop passes under a run of historic stone bridges, including Framwellgate Bridge and Elvet Bridge, whose narrow arches and stone cutwaters constrict the channel.

Downstream of the city loop, Framwellgate Weir blocks the river outright; a fish pass built into the structure carries migrating salmon and sea trout past it, part of a longer recovery of a river once heavily polluted by the region's coal mining industry.