Walks near Lancaster by train

Limestone hill country of caves, cairns and crags, dropping to the hamlet of Feizor and rising again with views to Pendle Hill and Giggleswick School Chapel before a steep descent. One of the finest of the Bentham Line walks.

Time: 4h30

Warnings: Strenuous full day over limestone hill country; sturdy footwear and a map recommended.

Walk details: Community Rail Lancashire (PDF).

Dales farmland and open hillside between Clapham and High Bentham, with the bulk of Ingleborough rising alongside.

Ingleborough: One of the Yorkshire Three Peaks, a flat-topped fell dominating the skyline above Clapham.

Time: 2h30

Walk details: Community Rail Lancashire (PDF).

Ribble Way riverside through the market town of Settle, Runley Mill, Turnpike House and a viewpoint towards Pendle Hill.

Time: 3h

Walk details: Community Rail Lancashire (PDF).

Southern Dales fields and woodland crossing the River Aire, past Otterburn and Airton, descending over the Leeds and Liverpool Canal to St Andrew's Church at Gargrave.

Time: 3h–5h30

Walk details: Community Rail Lancashire (PDF).

Similar walk: Slow Ways (inc. GPX).

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).

Wooded climb to the Arnside Knott summit viewpoint over Morecambe Bay and the southern Lakeland fells, then low cliffs and beach.

Arnside Knott: A wooded limestone hill in the Arnside and Silverdale AONB with a plateau summit giving panoramic views over Morecambe Bay and the southern Lake District fells.

Morecambe Bay: A vast tidal bay of intertidal sands and mudflats overlooked from the cliffs and shore around Arnside.

Time: 2h30

Warnings: Coastal section follows tidal shore; check tide times before walking the beach.

Walk details: Northern Railway (tips, photos, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).

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).

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).

Circular of minor roads, woodland and the Morecambe Bay shore, past the Gothic-revival Conishead Priory and the Ulverston Canal towpath.

Conishead Priory: A Gothic-revival mansion in woodland on the Morecambe Bay shore, with a terrace cafe.

Walk details: Community Rail Cumbria (PDF).

Longer circular through Kendal and along the River Kent, past the 12th-century castle ruins, the line of the old Lancaster Canal and a riverside walk.

Kendal Castle: The ruins of a twelfth-century castle overlooking the town of Kendal.

Time: 4h

Walk details: Community Rail Cumbria (PDF).

Mainly hilly circular up to the dammed Potter Tarn and back along the River Kent on the Dales Way, through walled pastures.

Potter Tarn: A reservoir tarn in the hills above Burneside reached on a Dales Way circular.

Time: 3h

Walk details: Community Rail Cumbria (PDF).

Easy, mainly level circular along the River Kent on the Dales Way to the old mill at Cowan Head, through fields and rough pasture.

Time: 2h

Warnings: Some sections may lack way-marks; a map is recommended.

Walk details: Community Rail Cumbria (PDF).