Walks you can reach from Whalley by train
MapA day hike is just a simple train journey away — plan your next day of green.
Alternatively, view walks directly from Whalley.
Clitheroe Circular via Pendle Hill (Lancashire)
6 minutes direct from Whalley.
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).
Settle Circular via Malham Cove (Yorkshire)
45 minutes direct from Whalley.
Limestone outcrops, crags, pavements, caves, dry valleys, steep pastures, gravel farm tracks, stony ground, moorland and panoramic upland views.
Time: 6h
Warnings: Hard on feet/knees.
Walk details: the Saturday Walkers Club (tips, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).
Horton-in-Ribblesdale Circular via Pen-y-Ghent (Yorkshire)
45 minutes direct from Whalley.
Open moorland, remote valleys, engineered hill paths, ancient trading routes, rocky scrambles, boggy plateau and sweeping Dales views.
Time: 4h30
Warnings: Can be boggy.
Walk details: the Saturday Walkers Club (tips, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).
Ribblehead Circular via Whernside (Yorkshire)
1 hour direct from Whalley.
Moorland, mosses, heather, cotton grass, high plateau with tarns, elevated scarp path, steep descent on engineered path, farm tracks, limestone country with pavements, shake holes, sink holes and dry streambeds.
Time: 5h30
Warnings: Can be boggy.
Walk details: the Saturday Walkers Club (tips, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).
Hellifield to Gargrave (Yorkshire)
30 minutes direct from Whalley.
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).
Horton-in-Ribblesdale to Settle (Yorkshire)
45 minutes direct from Whalley.
Wild remote fell, moorland plateau, Pennine Way paths, lonely pastures, limestone country, waterfall, elevated bridleways above valley and views of green dales and tarn.
Time: 3h–6h
Warnings: Can be boggy/rough.
Walk details: the Saturday Walkers Club (tips, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).
Dent to Ribblehead (Yorkshire)
1 hour direct from Whalley.
Grassy moorland, high fells, quiet roads, good tracks, open views, railway viaducts, becks and pastures.
Time: 5h
Warnings: Can be boggy.
Walk details: the Saturday Walkers Club (tips, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).
Langho Circular via Dinkley Suspension Bridge (Lancashire)
4 minutes direct from Whalley.
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).
Entwistle Circular via Turton Tower (Lancashire)
30 minutes direct from Whalley.
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).
Settle to Hellifield (Yorkshire)
45 minutes direct from Whalley.
Recommended: The views are great - especially from the top of the hill. Climbs steadily out of Settle, the first kilometres uphill and quite steep but on tarmac and good tracks, then becomes a wide track over open moorland before descending towards Long Preston, finishing across lanes and fields. A few gates, no stiles and a lot of it is on old tarmacked tracks. Long Preston, about two thirds of the way, has pubs and a station, so the walk can be split there.
Hilly: a third on high ground, rising above the surrounding land.
Time: 2h30–5h30
Lunch: A couple of pubs at Long Preston, roughly two thirds of the way.
1 end-of-walk reward: the Black Horse
Walk details: Slow Ways.
Blackburn to Rishton (Lancashire)
15 minutes direct from Whalley.
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.
Horton-in-Ribblesdale to Garsdale (Yorkshire)
45 minutes direct from Whalley.