Walks in Lancashire by train

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).

Abbey precinct, town centre, riverside path, golf course, open pasture, old drove road, moorland ridge, plateau summit, steep scarp, lush valley, meandering river and nature reserve.

Time: 2h30–5h

Warnings: Can be muddy.

Walk details: the Saturday Walkers Club (tips, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).

Similar walk: Slow Ways (inc. GPX).

West Pennine Moors circular on the Witton Weavers Way, past a string of reservoirs, into the steep-sided Turton Bottoms valley and Grade I-listed Turton Tower. Rich in industrial heritage and birdlife.

Turton Tower: A Grade I-listed manor house built around a medieval peel tower.

Warnings: A few short steep ascents.

Walk details: Community Rail Lancashire (PDF).

Walk details: Rail Rambles.

Short, flat: the village of Rufford, the Lancashire Wildlife Trust's Mere Sands Wood (42 ha of lakes, woodland, wildfowl and waders) and Tudor Rufford Old Hall.

Mere Sands Wood: A 42-hectare Lancashire Wildlife Trust reserve of lakes and woodland rich in wildfowl and waders.

Walk details: Community Rail Lancashire (PDF).

Countryside circular to a never-used railway cutting, crossing the Ribble on the Dinkley Suspension Bridge on the Ribble Way, past the twelfth-century Old Langho Church and an old Roman road.

Walk details: Community Rail Lancashire (PDF).

Moorland circular up the high ground above Baxenden along the closed Accrington-Manchester railway, past bridge piers, old stone waggonway, the castellated New High Riley farm and broad town viewpoints.

Walk details: Community Rail Lancashire (PDF).

Mostly level themed route along quiet footpaths, lanes and woodland tracks to Lathom Park, tracing the path of First World War horses to the Lathom Remount Depot, visiting the historic Lathom Park Chapel.

Warnings: A few stiles and steps.

Walk details: Community Rail Lancashire (PDF).

Moderate circular across the RSPB Leighton Moss reedbed reserve, with limestone pastures, woodland and the neo-Gothic Leighton Hall.

Leighton Moss: An RSPB reedbed reserve near Silverdale with a visitor centre and birdwatching hides.

Leighton Hall: A neo-Gothic country house near Silverdale with a tea room and parkland.

Walk details: Community Rail Cumbria (PDF).

Hilly woodland circular over the limestone scarp of Paradise Hill above Grange-over-Sands, through Eggerslack Wood and the village of Lindale.

Warnings: Hilly with some wet, grassy paths. A short stretch of the B5271 has no pavement; take care.

Walk details: Community Rail Cumbria (PDF).

Circular round the village of Huncoat, near Accrington, level then climbing to viewpoints over the Calder valley, past the pit-top nature reserve and remnants of the old brickworks and Perseverance Mill.

Walk details: Community Rail Lancashire (PDF).

Hilly circular through conifer plantations and parkland around Holker, on a section of the Cumbria Coastal Way, passing the stately Holker Hall.

Holker Hall: A stately home near Cark with award-winning gardens and a courtyard cafe.

Walk details: Community Rail Cumbria (PDF).