Walks near Preston 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).

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).

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).

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).

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).

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).