Which ingredients make for the perfect family walk? I would imagine that whatever they are, you’ll be able to tick them off at Hackfall Wood. It’s one of our favourite places to explore with children, complete with follies, beautiful woodland, a beach (!) and plenty of woodland magic. What’s more, you’ve even got a lovely pub to walk to at Grewelthorpe. Perfect.
Read about our first time to Hackfall Wood here, when we enjoyed a beautiful sunny spring day. We love days out enjoying Yorkshire’s beautiful landscapes, and love walking! If you want to discover some of the places that we’ve found on our travels, have a look at the Muddy Boots Mummy website or follow my Facebook page.
Although this walk is frankly brilliant, I always feel it’s somewhat overlooked by the many families who visit Newmillerdam. Most people who visit enjoy a walk around the lake (often swinging by one of the great little cafes), but that little circuit can get rather busy. If you step back from that main track, you can enjoy the most glorious woodland!
The Gnome Roam is a circular family activity walk, one of Wakefield Council’s great Story Trails. Your task is to follow the route to find the different gnomes who have scattered around the woodland in their attempt to escape the bear! The walk, just under 2 miles long, is buggy-friendly if you don’t mind a push up a hill!
To read more about this WONDERFUL family walk and get all the details you might need, visit this blog. Muddy Boots Mummy is a website providing inspiration for family days outdoors and walks around Yorkshire- see more here. Make sure you keep up to date with the latest adventures on the Facebook page.
If ever there was a magical woodland walk, this is it. Take the trail through the trees on a 2-mile circular route that passes an idyllic woodland tea garden and the 30-foot Falling Foss waterfall before returning alongside babbling May Beck. It’s a lovely shady walk for summer – with shallow waters to paddle in, and a bridge to play pooh-sticks from – and spectacular in autumn when the woodland colours are at their best. If you don’t intend to venture far from the tea garden and waterfall, you can use an alternative car park near Falling Foss instead.
You can do the walk with a pram (though not down to the waterfall). That said, you might find using a carrier is best, if you have one, as it is sometimes a bit boggy under foot.
1. From the May Beck car park, leave the road that you came in on and head up the gravel path. Take the immediate first right turn, along the track just above the car park. You’ll soon see some steps on your left. Take them and follow a narrow path uphill through the bracken.
2. The path soon goes through a gate. At this point, turn right (don’t go over the style to your left). You can then stay on this path all the way to Falling Foss!
3. When you eventually meet the road, follow it downhill to the Falling Foss Tea Garden at Midge Hall.
4. Falling Foss, with its tea garden, is the perfect place to stop and play. You’ll find it’s particularly great for a paddle. Just past the tea garden, you’ll come to a good viewpoint for the waterfall. If you want to get closer, you can follow an unofficial path down to the waterfall, leaving the main path to the right as you face the tea rooms. It is a very steep descent but we enjoy the adventure and lots of people make it down.
5. The tea garden itself is at Midge Hall, a tiny cottage with gardens overlooking Falling Foss. The gardens are fantastic for small children, with wooden sculptures and a small play area to explore.
6. Leaving the tea rooms, cross the bridge and you’ll see a wooden-decked path along the side of the beck. You can follow this all the way back to the start of the walk. There are some lovely places for further paddling and exploration (including a cave if you keep your eyes peeled).
Ryedale Mumbler is a go-to parenting resource full of days out, local walks and ideas for enjoying the Great Outdoors with children. Read more here.
So many people venture to Bolton Abbey for family walks along the Strid, while those a little more adventurous might try Simon’s Seat. However, for a much quieter route which has just as much appeal, the ascent of Hare Head is a great choice.
The route is a 7-mile circular walk, starting from Bolton Abbey’s Pavilion before taking you up through pretty woodland and across moorland with fantastic views.
You also get to enjoy the best bits of the Bolton Abbey estate, with the route finishing with a walk along the river and past the Strid. To read a full route description click here. To find more family-friendly walking routes and great days outdoors around Yorkshire, visit Muddy Boots Mummy.
This 3.6 mile route follows the old tramway line, built by George Stephenson, between Grosmont to Goathland. It’s a great walk for children because you can do the return route on a steam train!
We enjoy starting this walk with a train ride from Goathland to Grosmont on the Pickering-Whitby line. You could even enjoy lunch in the village before you start! Whilst you can do this walk with a pushchair, be aware that the initial path from Grosmont is steep and narrow. That said, this difficulty is short-lived and the rest of the route is much easier.
The route back to Goathland is well-signposted. Initially, you follow the train line before meandering through woodland and across fields. You can take a quick detour here to the Beck Hole pub (which is next door to a sweet shop).
Read more about this great walk here. Muddy Boots Mummy is a website that provides ideas for family walks and days out in the Great Outdoors around Yorkshire and beyond. To see more suggestions for shorter family walks in Yorkshire, click here.
This fab circular walk is just amazing. At 4km, it is PERFECT for families and has pretty much everything you could want in a walk.
Starting and finishing at Cannon Hall Museum, Park and Gardens means you can enjoy their great facilities (including the café, toilets and play area). Additionally, on the route you pass farms and beautiful woodland, enjoy great views and get lots of opportunities for exploring. There are a number of stiles and footpaths across uneven surfaces on this route.
Click here to see the route description. Muddy Boots Mummy is a website that shares lots of ideas for family walks and days out to enjoy the Great Outdoors around Yorkshire and beyond. To see more of my favourite walks for families which are less than 5km in length, click here.
Walking along the beautiful East Yorkshire Coast, from Fraisethorpe to Bridlington, is one of my favourite walks with my children.
Situated just south of Bridlington, Fraisethorpe is a lovely, quieter beach. You can park in the farmers’ field on the cliff edge (£5 for the day in the summer months), from which you can easily walk down to the beach. The beach is dog friendly and a good one for finding shells and pebbles or flying a kite. If you’re feeling brave, you can also go for a paddle (though there is no lifeguard on this stretch). There is also The Cow Shed, a lovely café serving food and drinks.
Heading north along the coast, the next place you come to is South Shore, about three miles away. This is the start of Bridlington, where you’ll find more good cafés and rest stops. Walking further north, you reach Bridlington’s South Beach. Take the land train from South Shore to Bridlington Spa or head to the town centre for fish and chips!
You could also do the walk by starting out at Bridlington. The park and ride at South Shore is a great place to park, with easy access to the beach via steps. Alternatively, you can park along South Marine Drive in Bridlington.
Walking from Fraisethorpe to Bridlington and back is a 6-mile round trip, a good length for older children. When my children were younger, we just did stretches of it and turned back.
For more information about this walk and lots of other fabulous family friendly walks around East Yorkshire, please visit the Hull & East Riding Mumbler website.
East Yorkshire is a wonderful place for families, with plenty of things to do and lots of activities and events going on. To find out more, check out Hull & East Riding Mumbler, a website that has all the information you might need. You can also follow them on Facebookor Instagram.
This Mother’s Day, finding a beautiful spring walk is high on every mummy’s agenda (well, that and breakfast in bed, which I’m still waiting for five years into my motherhood journey).
If you’re local to Ilkley, you are EXTREMELY lucky to have my absolutely FAVOURITE display of bluebells on your doorstep. In fact, the circular walk along the river bank and up through Middleton Woods is probably my favourite spring walk in Yorkshire! With fantastic views across the Wharfe Valley, beautiful woodland to explore, a pretty riverside and the chance of seeing lambs, what’s not to love?
The walk is only 4-5km, so it’s a great walk for children too (though it’s not buggy friendly). Starting at Riverside Gardens, follow the river before reaching the leisure centre and the bottom entrance to Middleton Woods. Continue uphill and in a north-westerly direction, passing behind the monastery, then head back downhill to join the river path. The bonus is that children can be bribed to the end with a fab play area (and an ice cream). Read the full walk description on the Muddy Boots Mummy site here. If your children need a little encouragement, perhaps you could try this Spring Walk Bingo!
This is actually one of the first walks I did on Muddy Boots Mummy. I launched the blog whilst I was pregnant with my son to motivate me to get out and about. It’s become a go-to resource for families across West Yorkshire to find child-friendly walks and places to enjoy the outdoors. Follow me on Facebook and Instagram to discover more places as we venture further afield in the upcoming months!
With a very active 5-year-old, we love to explore our local area by going on adventures! We find woodland walks the perfect place to keep him interested and entertained, allowing us a decent walk as a family without a struggle to keep him going.
Coxley Woods, in rural west Wakefield, is our absolute favourite place for adventuring! There is a little stream for dam building and wading, trees for den constructions and swinging and ducks and horses to see. In the spring, the woods even take on a carpet of bluebells and wild garlic!
Walking around the ancient walls in York is one of our favourite things to do with our kids. Seeing the city from this elevated perspective, away from the busy streets, is just wonderful at any time of year.
You can do the full 2-mile circular walk or you can choose to do just a section (we like the one from Monk Bar to Bootham best as it takes you all around the back of the Minster and Dean’s Park), depending on how little your children’s legs are! The most perilous areas are made safe with railings, although it’s worth noting that some areas are still exposed. There is currently a one-way system in place, so you don’t have to worry about getting past anyone.
Be sure to take some paper and crayons as at each major Bar (the name for the old gates) there is a bit of historical information along with a ‘City Walls Rubbing Trail’. If you complete the trail, you get a map of the walls as well as some other fun images.
The access to the walls is up ancient stairs and there are many ups and downs, taking you down to street level and back up to the walls, so the walk is, unfortunately, not suitable for wheelchairs or prams. On the walls there are lots of sections with a couple of steps along the way too, so we’d definitely recommend walking or using a sling if you have a little one.
There are lots of fabulous photo opportunities along the way, including the beautiful York Minster backdrop and the four main Bars, plus lots of other twists and turns along the way.
York is a wonderful place for families, with plenty of things to do and lots of activities and events going on! To find out more, check out York Mumbler, a go-to parenting website that has all the information you might need. You can also follow the news page on Facebook, Instagram, or join the York Mumbler Chat Group for local parents and carers.
