Walks you can reach from Cradley Heath by train

Ridge walk over North Worcestershire Hills, open hilltops, scrubland, gorse, woods, pastures, motorway bridge crossing, country parks and heathland with bilberry and heather.

Time: 6h30 (5h walking, 1h30 lunch)

Warnings: Steep descents.

Walk details: the Saturday Walkers Club (tips, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).

Reverse direction: Railwalks (inc. GPX).

Droitwich Canal constructed in 1771 to transport salt to River Severn; fully restored and reopened in 2011.

Waterway: three quarters along the Droitwich Barge Canal.

Hawford Dovecote (National Trust)

Time: 5h (3h30 walking, 1h30 lunch)

Warnings: Riverside path may be fenced off during repair works.

Walk details: Walk Midlands (tips, photos and local insights).

Reverse direction: Worcestershire Community Rail Partnership (PDF, inc. GPX) and Slow Ways (inc. GPX).

Parkland and field paths past lakes and fishing ponds.

Time: 4h30 (3h walking, 1h30 lunch)

End-of-walk reward: A pub and brewery at Hartlebury near the end.

Walk details: Worcestershire Community Rail Partnership (PDF).

Picturesque and historically rich. Riverside paths, fields, woodland and urban approaches. Walk traversing two rivers to reach a Victorian spa town beneath iconic hills.

Greyfriars House and Garden (National Trust)

Time: 6h (4h30 walking, 1h30 lunch)

Warnings: Muddy sections; multiple gates.

Walk details: Walk Midlands (tips, photos and local insights).

Reverse direction: Worcestershire Community Rail Partnership (PDF, inc. GPX) and Slow Ways (inc. GPX).

Mostly along canal towpaths with field paths and road sections. Walk through mid-Worcestershire from Bromsgrove to Droitwich Spa, tracing salt industry heritage and Victorian spa development via canal routes. Droitwich is a town literally constructed on salt.

Waterway: four fifths along the Worcester & Birmingham Canal.

Time: 4h30 (3h walking, 1h30 lunch)

Warnings: Be careful of fast-moving cars on lane; towpath muddy in places.

Walk details: Walk Midlands (tips, photos and local insights).

Reverse direction: Worcestershire Community Rail Partnership (PDF, inc. GPX) and Railwalks (inc. GPX).

Wild and dramatic escarpment (Rowley Hills). Mostly along canal towpaths through suburban towns and villages. Walk celebrates William Perry, the 'Tipton Slasher', a renowned 19th-century bareknuckle boxer born in Tipton in 1819.

Time: 4h (2h30 walking, 1h30 lunch)

Warnings: Over two miles through dark Netherton Tunnel (option).

Walk details: Walk Midlands (tips, photos and local insights).

Dramatic and beautiful edge (Kinver Edge). Hilly, wooded, red sandstone landscape and largely along canal towpaths. Walk traverses three counties across a landscape shaped by 17th-century glass, brick, and pottery industries powered by coal from nearby collieries.

Waterway: nine tenths along the Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal.

Woodland: two fifths under tree cover.

Time: 7h (5h walking, 1h30 lunch, 30m break)

Warnings: Roundabout crossing in Kidderminster requires use of subways.

Walk details: Walk Midlands (tips, photos and local insights).

Golf-course and field paths into rolling, wooded countryside dotted with ponds.

Woodland: a quarter under tree cover.

Time: 3h30 (2h walking, 1h30 lunch)

Walk details: Worcestershire Community Rail Partnership (PDF).

Canal towpath (Worcester and Birmingham Canal). Kings Norton was site of a 1642 English Civil War battle.

Waterway: nine tenths along the Worcester & Birmingham Canal.

Birmingham Back to Backs (National Trust)

Time: 4h (2h30 walking, 1h30 lunch)

Walk details: Walk Midlands (tips, photos and local insights).

Canal towpath, urban paths and suburban streets. Walk along the Worcester-Birmingham Canal from city centre to Cadbury's model village.

Waterway: four fifths along the Worcester & Birmingham Canal.

Birmingham Back to Backs (National Trust)

Time: 3h30 (2h walking, 1h30 lunch)

Walk details: Walk Midlands (tips, photos and local insights).

Field paths and a disused railway through a sandstone cutting, finishing on a canal towpath.

Time: 4h30 (3h walking, 1h30 lunch)

Walk details: Worcestershire Community Rail Partnership (PDF).

Canal towpath, River Cole valley, country park, wetlands, grasslands, woodland, heath and urban paths.

Time: 5h (3h30 walking, 1h30 lunch)

Walk details: Heart Rail Trails (PDF).