Walks you can reach from Euxton Balshaw Lane by train

Blackpool North Station to Poulton-le-Fylde Station (Lancashire)

30m direct from Euxton Balshaw Lane.

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).

Easy: 7km, gentle ascents.

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

Documented by Slow Ways — download GPX route

Leyland Station to Chorley Station (Lancashire)

5m direct from Euxton Balshaw Lane.

A varied walk using footpaths and roads through good countryside, with a fair few stiles, steps and muddy sections, passing through parkland, woods and over fields, crossing the M6 on a bridge. Some unpaved rural roads and a stretch of busy main road and plus a steep drop on sloping steps and a wooded valley edge. Passes through Worden Park and Astley Park; note Worden Park is locked at sunset. Astley Hall has toilets and a cafe in the old stables.

Easy: 9km, moderate ascents.

A stretch of busy main road into Euxton, though paved. A field footpath leaves the road on the outside of a bend from the non-pavement side, making it difficult to cross, though traffic lights under a narrow railway bridge help. Several stiles and muddy sections.

Lunch stop: Astley Hall cafe.

Documented by Slow Ways — download GPX route

Preston Station to Blackburn Station (Lancashire)

15m direct from Euxton Balshaw Lane.

A long route with a very enjoyable, good-surfaced opening section to Bamber Bridge and with a minor road to cross and a narrow 62 cm gap. Avenham Park near the start has free toilets.

20km.

Documented by Slow Ways — download GPX route

St Helens Central Station to Newton-le-Willows Station (Lancashire)

30m direct from Euxton Balshaw Lane.

A superb, mostly off-road walk along the historic St Helens/Sankey Canal towpath (tarmac or metalled earth) through peaceful countryside and with the canal a string of pools and reedbeds. Largely accessible to wheels and cycles with some width restrictions and sometimes stony or muddy surfaces; one steep tarmac climb and a stepped footbridge at Earlestown. Follows the St Helens/Sankey Canal, passing the Sankey Viaduct (George Stephenson's monument, the first major railway bridge in the world), old locks, and the 'Mucky Mountains' spoil heaps of the former vitriol works, now reclaimed by nature. Stations at both ends with working lifts.

10km.

Crossing the railway at Earlestown uses a stepped footbridge, making the route foot-only.

Lunch: Shops, pubs and eateries at both ends.

Documented by Slow Ways — download GPX route

Blackpool North Station to St Annes-on-the-Sea Station (Lancashire)

45m direct from Euxton Balshaw Lane.

wonderful views over the sea to North Wales and to the Lake District. A very flat seaside walk on recently resurfaced, wide and smooth pedestrian-friendly paths from the station to the coast, then about three miles of off-road promenade. Towards St Annes the plotted route goes inland along a main road behind high dunes for over a mile and though it can mostly be walked along the sands instead. The promenade section can largely be walked along the beach or dunes, tides permitting, for a quieter, more scenic alternative. Public toilets along the prom are coin-operated.

Easy: 9km, gentle ascents.

Lunch: A never-ending supply of fish and chips and seaside refreshments along the promenade, and shops and cafes in St Annes.

Documented by Slow Ways — download GPX route

Liverpool Lime Street Station to Liverpool South Parkway Station (Lancashire)

45m direct from Euxton Balshaw Lane.

A mostly gorgeous route. A mostly flat, well-surfaced route, the bulk of it along a wide paved promenade beside the River Mersey estuary with gorgeous views and plus a short city-centre section and quiet suburban streets with Triassic red-sandstone walls. Fully paved with only short ramps and a brief cobbled section near Albert Dock; suitable for all wheels.

Easy: 11km, gentle ascents.

Lunch: A pub and cafe with toilets at Otterspool roughly halfway; little else on the route, so get coffee and snacks in town.

Documented by Slow Ways — download GPX route

Kirkham and Wesham Station to Preston Station (Lancashire)

15m direct from Euxton Balshaw Lane.

A route using quiet roads (with pavements until past Treales) for the first third and the Lancaster Canal towpath for most of the rest and generally very pleasant though the first canal section can be very muddy after rain. A flight of shallow steps down to the towpath; the canal becomes more urban approaching Preston. Passes the entrance to the Millennium Ribble Link, a canalised river opened in 2002 connecting the Lancaster Canal to the River Ribble; detour possible at Haslam Park.

14km.

The first stretch of the canal path can be very muddy after rain. The first half of the canal is within the emergency zone for the Westinghouse nuclear fuel works (test siren on the first Tuesday of certain months).

Lunch stops: the Hand and Dagger, or the Final Whistle cafe.

Documented by Slow Ways — download GPX route

Prescot Station to St Helens Central Station (Lancashire)

30m direct from Euxton Balshaw Lane.

A mostly urban route that avoids the busy roads of the direct alternative, using quieter residential streets, cycle routes and footpaths, with the best sections through a park and woodland and a wildflower meadow at Thatto Heath. A short steep section through woods; one large puddle to skirt; finishes alongside a disused canal. Crosses Thatto Heath Meadows nature reserve, full of wildflowers and overlooking St Helens, where moorhens, coots and a cormorant were seen. Finishes alongside the disused St Helens Canal.

7km.

About a mile of main road near Prescot. Thatto Heath nature reserve has cycle barriers and a stile.

Documented by Slow Ways — download GPX route

Preston Station to Leyland Station (Lancashire)

5m direct from Euxton Balshaw Lane.

A mix of shared cycle paths along a former railway line, pavements, quiet country lanes and rougher rail-side field paths with livestock. The opening cycle track, raised above its surroundings, is popular and pleasant; the field paths hug the railway fence with stiles and a narrow gap between an electric fence and the railway fence. The first third is pleasant and the rest more tedious.

9km.

Steps and stiles make it foot-only. A field footpath south of the West Coast Main Line was guarded by horses and can be muddy. A narrow 50cm gap between an electric fence and the railway fence needs care.

Documented by Slow Ways — download GPX route

Leyland Station to Bamber Bridge Station (Lancashire)

5m direct from Euxton Balshaw Lane.

A route using roads for all but the middle 20 percent — mainly suburban but including the busy A49 — almost all with pavements. The short rural section, well signposted, has electric fences narrowing the path (seasonal, for sheep), an insulated stile, an unpleasant combination of cut-back brambles and plank-covered mud and barbed-wire edging; the section beside the motorway is more pleasant despite the noise.

5km.

Around the A49 main road, busy but with a controlled crossing. The rural footpath has seasonal electric fences, an insulated stile, mud and barbed-wire edging. The Bamber Bridge end is at a level crossing.

Documented by Slow Ways — download GPX route

Preston Station to Bamber Bridge Station (Lancashire)

15m direct from Euxton Balshaw Lane.

spectacular views on the disused railway bridge of River Ribble. A largely traffic-free route along a cycle path on a former railway line, through pleasant wooded landscape and with the final 1.5km into Bamber Bridge on roads. The surface is entirely smooth asphalt (a little slippery in frosty weather) and almost flat. A car-free underpass avoids the A6 roundabout. A replacement Tram Bridge over the River Ribble in Avenham Park is under construction (due spring 2026), with a diversion in place.

5km.

A cycle barrier at the path entrance is only 62cm wide. A short path up from the cycle track at the Preston end can be muddy; a slightly longer tarmac route avoids it.

Documented by Slow Ways — download GPX route

St Helens Central Station to Lea Green Station (Lancashire)

30m direct from Euxton Balshaw Lane.

A short town-to-town route: leaves the centre on a tarmac canal towpath, climbs onto higher ground, crosses a retail park and then takes a tarmac track and an earth-and-stone path that can be wet and muddy through Sherdley Park before broad park paths lead to the station.

Easy: 4km, moderate ascents.

Foot-only route due to the footpath into Sherdley Park; a road near Grove's Dam is prone to flooding though passable on foot.

Lunch: Plenty of shops and places for refreshment in the retail park mid-route.

Documented by Slow Ways — download GPX route