Walks near Blackpool by train

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).

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).

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).

Limestone scenery of the Arnside and Silverdale National Landscape: lanes, woodland and outcrops, climbing Warton Crag for sweeping views over Morecambe Bay. Rare butterflies, moths and lizards on the crag.

Time: 2h30

Walk details: Discover Bowland (PDF).

Fields, lanes and canal towpath through the Lune valley, past Loyn Bridge near Gressingham, then over Kellet along the Lancaster Canal into Carnforth.

Time: 5h30

Warnings: Strenuous full-day walk; can be split into shorter legs.

Walk details: Community Rail Lancashire (PDF).

Coast, quiet farmland lanes and the lock-free Lancaster Canal towpath into Carnforth, the station of Brief Encounter fame.

Time: 2h

Walk details: Community Rail Lancashire (PDF).

Similar walk: Railwalks.

Recommended: A largely urban route that is mostly along the canal towpath, avoiding a nasty motorway roundabout. The towpath is gravel or degraded tarmac with a couple of uneven patches; there are some interesting old mills and but a lot of pylons and nearby roads. Some interesting old mills along the towpath. Dragonflies and a weasel were seen.

Lunch: A cafe at Home Bargains in the retail park near the midpoint (accessed via steps).

Warnings: There are cycle barriers and a couple of uneven patches on the towpath. Leaving the towpath in Blackburn involves an unavoidable kerb and a cobblestone roadway.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

Recommended: The magnificent Lune Aqueduct; a canalside view of the sea, with mountains beyond. A long but very easy route, canal towpath nearly all the way, with short street sections at each end and no stiles, gates or steps. The towpath contours above the Lune valley over the magnificent Lune Aqueduct; surface is tarmac (partly broken) or fine gravel and lumpy in places with a couple of short muddy patches and a short cobbled section. Views across the fields, Morecambe Bay and the Lakeland hills; kingfishers sometimes seen. Cafés at St John's Hospice (Lancaster end) and a shoreside café and micropub at Hest Bank.

Waterway: nine tenths along the Lancaster Canal.

Time: 4h–7h30

Lunch: Canalside pubs and a supermarket at Bolton-le-Sands and a canalside pub at Hest Bank.

1 end-of-walk reward: the Canal Turn

Warnings: The towpath surface is lumpy where the tarmac has disintegrated, with a couple of slightly muddy patches.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

Reverse direction: Railwalks (inc. GPX).

Recommended: Coastal route with multiple options; a longer line avoiding the busy lanes around the station.

Coastal: four fifths along the coast.

Time: 5h30–11h

Warnings: Tides can be dangerous.

Walk details: Railwalks.

The views from the trig point (and some distance before and after) are incredible, covering Lancaster, Morecambe Bay, the Lake District, the Yorkshire Dales including Ingleborough, and the Forest of Bowland. A long route over Whit Moor, with remote middle miles of muddy to quite wet peat bog, open access land, trodden moorland tracks and a final well-maintained tarmac cycle track into Lancaster. Stiles, gates and steps and short steep sections. Designed to avoid the wet fields and busy roads of the alternative route. Main facilities are about 5 miles from each end, at Wray and at Brookhouse/Caton. Passes the Halton eco-village, Lune Aqueduct, Priory and Castle into Lancaster.

Lancaster Castle: A medieval castle above the city, long used as a court and prison.

Time: 7h30–14h30

3 lunch spots: the Station pub, licensed café at Wray, or the Woodie's

Warnings: The middle 7 miles are remote and can be wet peat bog; navigation on the moor relies on trodden tracks and waymark posts. The A683 at Brookhouse is fast but has big gaps for safe crossing. Can be muddy.

Walk details: Slow Ways.