Walks you can reach from Bootle by train
MapA day hike is just a simple train journey away — plan your next day of green.
Alternatively, view walks directly from Bootle.
Silecroft Circular via Black Combe (Cumberland)
7 minutes direct from Bootle.
A shapely coastal peak between sea and mountains, climbing steeply beside Moorgill Beck to Black Combe's summit, with some of the best long-distance views in the country.
Black Combe: A shapely 600m coastal fell between sea and mountains whose summit gives some of the finest long-distance panoramas in the country.
Time: 6h30 (5h walking, 1h30 lunch)
Warnings: A 15.2km hill walk with around 665m of ascent, fords and open-fell route-finding; the return includes a stretch of the A595.
Walk details: Visit Lake District / Lakes Line Rail User Group (PDF).
Millom Circular via Millom Park (Cumberland)
15 minutes direct from Bootle.
Low fells, wide salt marshes and the Duddon Estuary sea wall, with Millom Park and its open-air geology museum.
Millom Park: A wooded park above Millom with looping paths, optional viewing points and the open-air Rock Park geology museum.
Time: 6h (4h30 walking, 1h30 lunch)
Walk details: Visit Lake District / Lakes Line Rail User Group (PDF).
Seascale Circular via Ponsonby Fell (Cumberland)
15 minutes direct from Bootle.
A long, demanding fell walk to the isolated grassy summit of Ponsonby Fell — an outstanding viewpoint — descending through Blengdale Forest.
Ponsonby Fell: An isolated fell whose elevation gives wide-ranging views including a revealing perspective of Scafell Pike and Scafell.
Time: 9h (7h walking, 1h30 lunch, 30m break)
Warnings: A long, demanding 22.5km fell walk best suited to experienced hill walkers; open fell, route-finding and over 500m of ascent.
Walk details: Visit Lake District / Lakes Line Rail User Group (PDF).
Drigg to Sellafield (Cumberland)
15 minutes direct from Bootle.
Mainly level shore and Drigg Dunes Nature Reserve, with views over the Irish Sea to Black Combe.
Drigg Dunes Nature Reserve: A coastal dune nature reserve between Drigg and Seascale with views over the Irish Sea.
Warnings: Drigg is a request stop. Not suitable for wheelchairs or pushchairs. Beach section can be cut off by exceptional spring tides; check tide times.
Walk details: Community Rail Cumbria (PDF).
St Bees to Whitehaven (Cumberland)
30 minutes direct from Bootle.
Dramatic sandstone clifftops of St Bees Head, with two promontories split by Fleswick Bay, to Whitehaven Harbour — the start of the Coast-to-Coast.
Hilly: a third on high ground, rising above the surrounding land.
Coastal: nine tenths along the coast.
Whitehaven Coast (National Trust; 4h45 in)
St Bees Head: A dramatic sandstone headland of two promontories split by the secluded cove of Fleswick Bay, marking the start of Wainwright's Coast-to-Coast walk.
Time: 6h (4h30 walking, 1h30 lunch)
Warnings: Exposed clifftop paths with steep, undulating sections; take care near cliff edges in windy conditions.
Walk details: Visit Lake District / Lakes Line Rail User Group (PDF).
Barrow-in-Furness to Roose (Lancashire)
45 minutes direct from Bootle.
Largely pavement through Barrow-in-Furness and its docklands, the Dock Museum and the Cavendish Dock seawall.
Time: 4h (2h30 walking, 1h30 lunch)
Walk details: Community Rail Cumbria (PDF).
Dalton to Ulverston (Lancashire)
1 hour direct from Bootle.
Fields and lanes, the two Urswick villages, Urswick Tarn and Elizabethan Swarthmoor Hall with its early Quaker links, between Dalton and Ulverston.
Dalton Castle: A National Trust 14th-century pele tower standing in the market square at the top of the town.
Swarthmoor Hall: An Elizabethan manor near Ulverston with strong early Quaker associations.
Time: 4h30 (3h walking, 1h30 lunch)
Walk details: Community Rail Cumbria (PDF).
Millom to Silecroft (Cumberland)
15 minutes direct from Bootle.
Recommended: An entirely flat walk around a bird reserve and along a wide sandy beach.
Coastal: nine tenths along the coast.
Time: 6h (4h30 walking, 1h30 lunch)
Lunch: Café at Haverigg midway.
Walk details: Railwalks.
Foxfield to Green Road (Lancashire)
30 minutes direct from Bootle.
Recommended: An inland detour with some climbing and frequent turns, plus two brief stretches on the main coast road.
Time: 6h (4h30 walking, 1h30 lunch)
Warnings: Some climbing; two brief stretches on the main coast road.
Walk details: Railwalks.
Braystones to St Bees (Cumberland)
30 minutes direct from Bootle.
Recommended: Mainly a clifftop walk with quite a lot of climbing.
Coastal: nine tenths along the coast.
Time: 4h (2h30 walking, 1h30 lunch)
Warnings: Quite a lot of climbing.
Walk details: Railwalks.
Barrow-in-Furness to Askam (Lancashire)
45 minutes direct from Bootle.
Recommended: A mainly flat walk along an estuary and a dune nature reserve, with the last two miles along the beach.
Coastal: three quarters along the coast.
Sandscale Haws National Nature Reserve (National Trust)
Time: 5h30 (4h walking, 1h30 lunch)
Warnings: Last two miles along the beach can sometimes be wet.
Walk details: Railwalks.
Ulverston to Barrow-in-Furness (Lancashire)
45 minutes direct from Bootle.
Recommended: A mixed route, much of it hard-surfaced, along lanes, the coastal A road and a concrete promenade; last part industrial.
Coastal: three quarters along the coast.
Time: 9h (7h walking, 1h30 lunch, 30m break)
Warnings: Follows a busy road for a sixth of the walk. Stretches alongside the coastal A road.
Walk details: Railwalks.