Best walks from Leyland
MapJump on a train, get off at Leyland Station and lose yourself in a beautiful hike for the day.
Leyland Station to Chorley Station
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
Leyland Station to Bamber Bridge Station
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 Leyland Station
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.