Walks in the North of England by train
MapA day hike in the countryside is just a simple train journey away — explore the most charmingly located railway stations in the North of England and plan your next day of green.
Settle Circular via Malham Cove (Yorkshire)
1 hour direct from Leeds.
Limestone outcrops, crags, pavements, caves, dry valleys, steep pastures, gravel farm tracks, stony ground, moorland and panoramic upland views.
Time: 6h
Warnings: Hard on feet/knees.
Walk details: the Saturday Walkers Club (tips, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).
Horton-in-Ribblesdale Circular via Pen-y-Ghent (Yorkshire)
1 hour 15 minutes direct from Leeds.
Open moorland, remote valleys, engineered hill paths, ancient trading routes, rocky scrambles, boggy plateau and sweeping Dales views.
Time: 4h30
Warnings: Can be boggy.
Walk details: the Saturday Walkers Club (tips, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).
Ribblehead Circular via Whernside (Yorkshire)
1 hour 15 minutes direct from Leeds.
Moorland, mosses, heather, cotton grass, high plateau with tarns, elevated scarp path, steep descent on engineered path, farm tracks, limestone country with pavements, shake holes, sink holes and dry streambeds.
Time: 5h30
Warnings: Can be boggy.
Walk details: the Saturday Walkers Club (tips, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).
Garsdale Circular via Baugh Fell (Yorkshire)
1 hour 30 minutes direct from Leeds.
Wild moorland, pathless plateau, rough pasture, lonely valleys, tarns, infant river fords and a waterfall.
Time: 6h
Warnings: Pathless, rough ground.
Walk details: the Saturday Walkers Club (tips, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).
Clitheroe Circular via Pendle Hill (Lancashire)
1 hour 15 minutes from Leeds, with one change.
Challenging circular climbing steeply to the summit of iconic Pendle Hill, with sweeping views over the Ribble Valley and southern Forest of Bowland, through the village of Pendleton.
Time: 4h30
Warnings: Steep climb; chilly and exposed on the summit. Decent footwear, waterproofs and extra layers essential.
Walk details: Discover Bowland (PDF).
Hutton Cranswick Circular via Tophill Low Nature Reserve (Yorkshire)
1 hour 30 minutes from Leeds, with one change.
Gentle, flat River Hull valley farmland: the lakes, hides and ponds of Tophill Low nature reserve and the dykes around Cranswick.
Warnings: Very flat and close to the river, so can be muddy after heavy rain. Listen for traffic on the narrow lanes.
Walk details: Yorkshire Coast Community Rail Partnership (PDF).
Driffield Circular via Driffield Canal (Yorkshire)
1 hour 30 minutes from Leeds, with one change.
Flat Driffield Canal towpath with two-hundred-year-old relics, dyke and field paths and a village pub at Wansford.
Warnings: Can be muddy after heavy rain. Take care on the road section before Wansford and at the railway crossings.
Walk details: Yorkshire Coast Community Rail Partnership (PDF).
Saltburn Circular via Warsett Hill (Yorkshire)
1 hour 45 minutes from Leeds, with one change.
Cleveland Way cliffs from Saltburn over Warsett Hill, with ironstone-mine remains and a charm-bracelet sculpture above the sea.
Huntcliff: A high coastal cliff east of Saltburn bearing the remains of a Victorian ironstone-mine fanhouse, on the Cleveland Way and England Coast Path.
The Cleveland Way: A National Trail that here follows the cliff-top coastline east of Saltburn, also signed as the England Coast Path.
Time: 3h
Lunch: The Ship pub on the Saltburn seafront, early on the route.
Warnings: Cliff-top paths with steep climbs; keep dogs on leads near livestock and cliff edges.
Walk details: Northern Railway (tips, photos, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).
Sheffield to Meadowhall Interchange (Yorkshire)
45 minutes direct from Leeds.
Flat urban canal towpaths and riverside paths along the Sheffield & Tinsley Canal and Five Weirs Walk, past Victoria Quays and the Tinsley locks. An easy waterside start to the trail.
Victoria Quays: A large canal basin in Sheffield constructed 1816-1819 as the terminus of the Sheffield Canal.
The Sheffield & Tinsley Canal: A canal opened in 1819 to link the city with the navigable River Don, famous for featuring in the opening scenes of the film The Full Monty.
Walk details: Penistone Line Trail / Penistone Line Partnership (PDF).
Hellifield to Gargrave (Yorkshire)
1 hour direct from Leeds.
Southern Dales fields and woodland crossing the River Aire, past Otterburn and Airton, descending over the Leeds and Liverpool Canal to St Andrew's Church at Gargrave.
Time: 3h–5h30
Walk details: Community Rail Lancashire (PDF).
Clapham to Giggleswick (Yorkshire)
1 hour 15 minutes direct from Leeds.
Limestone hill country of caves, cairns and crags, dropping to the hamlet of Feizor and rising again with views to Pendle Hill and Giggleswick School Chapel before a steep descent. One of the finest of the Bentham Line walks.
Time: 4h30
Warnings: Strenuous full day over limestone hill country; sturdy footwear and a map recommended.
Walk details: Community Rail Lancashire (PDF).
Dent to Ribblehead (Yorkshire)
1 hour 30 minutes direct from Leeds.
Grassy moorland, high fells, quiet roads, good tracks, open views, railway viaducts, becks and pastures.
Time: 5h
Warnings: Can be boggy.
Walk details: the Saturday Walkers Club (tips, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).