Walks you can reach from The Hawthorns 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: 5h

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.

Time: 3h30–7h30

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: 3h–6h

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.

Time: 4h30–9h

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).

Hilly north Worcestershire landscape. River Blythe rises near Earlswood Lakes.

Time: 2h30–5h

Warnings: Cars travel fast on twisty road with no pavement; busy A435 dual carriageway crossing.

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

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: 3h–6h30

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).

Warwickshire countryside paths, village lanes and river crossing.

Time: 1h

Warnings: Request stop; no shops in Wood End or Tanworth, stock up before arriving.

Walk details: Heart Rail Trails (PDF).

Farmland, woodland and rural lanes.

Time: 1h30

Warnings: Request stop; no facilities on trail, bring provisions.

Walk details: Heart Rail Trails (PDF).

Historic high street, farmland, Millennium Way, rural lanes, fields and woodland edges.

Time: 2h30

Warnings: Can be overgrown summer.

Walk details: Heart Rail Trails (PDF).

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: 2h30–4h30

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

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

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

Time: 3h30

Walk details: Heart Rail Trails (PDF).

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: 5h–10h30

Warnings: Roundabout crossing in Kidderminster requires use of subways.

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