Walks near Burnley 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).

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).

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).

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).

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).

River Calder circular contrasting two viaducts: the 48-arch brick Whalley Viaduct and the disused ten-arch stone Martholme Viaduct, near the historic village of Whalley with its parish church and abbey ruins.

Whalley Viaduct: A 48-arch brick railway viaduct striding across the Calder valley.

Whalley Abbey: The ruins of a 14th-century Cistercian abbey beside the River Calder.

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).

Recommended: A very enjoyable, direct and straightforward canal walk, almost entirely along the Rochdale Canal towpath following national cycle route 66. The terrain is nearly all level with a mostly gravel surface, though bridges and slopes past locks have cobbles and canal overflows run over cobbles across the towpath in several places. Tree cover gives a green-tunnel feel. Follows national cycle route 66 along the Rochdale Canal. Canalside interest: locks, houseboats, mileposts and stone bridges.

Waterway: almost all along the Rochdale Canal.

Time: 2h–4h

Lunch: Refreshment opportunities along the canalside towards Hebden Bridge.

Warnings: Canal overflows run over cobbles across the towpath in several places, with a raised plank alongside to keep feet dry.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

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: A pleasant route out of Blackpool on suburban roads and through Stanley Park, then a cycle-and-walkway and a choice of hard-surfaced track or gravelled woodland path beside a stream and before housing estates and paved roads into Poulton. Largely flat and easy underfoot. Passes Blackpool Zoo. Stanley Park has an Art Deco cafe, gardens and a boating lake (occasionally affected by avian flu restrictions).

Time: 2h–4h

Lunch: An Art Deco cafe in Stanley Park, plus facilities in Normoss and at the Poulton end.

Warnings: Follows a busy road for a fifth of the walk.

Walk details: Slow Ways.