THE Cleveland Way will soon join landscapes including the Grand Canyon and Yosemite National Park as those people can take a virtual tour of online.  

The North York Moors National Park Authority has begun capturing the panoramic views along the 109-mile National Trail route using a special camera mounted on a backpack as part of the Google Trekker Loan Programme. The 360 degree images will be able to be seen online in a similar format to Google Street View images.

National Trails officer Malcolm Hodgson said that the images captured will also included some of the lesser known and more remote beauty spots in the area such as Hayburn Wyke. 

He said: "There are numerous spectacular and beautiful locations along the Cleveland Way and the Trekker allows us to showcase them to the world in the same way that people use Google Street View."

Members of a team led by Jonathan Steele, creator of the Hardmoors Ultrarunning Series based on the Cleveland way, will take it in turns to don the backpack and spend the next month walking the route, taking pictures of villages and landmarks along the way including some of Robin Hood's Bay and the former Peak Alum works at Ravenscar. 

The Cleveland Way runs from Helmsley across the North York Moors to Saltburn-by-the Sea before returning to the National Park and following the coastline down to Filey. 

Malcolm said: "It will mean that the Cleveland Way joins other landscape greats such as the Grand Canyon and the Yosemite National Park in the virtual world and will whet people's appetite to come and visit as well as try out sections of the trail."