Finding suitable walks that have both paths suitable for prams and are dog-friendly can be quite daunting, but there’s so much more to do than circuits of your local park! Local Leeds mum Rachel Girtchen, a.k.a. ‘Muddy Boots Mummy’ shares some of her favourite walks which are suitable for both! (pram and pooch non-compulsory!)
Click here to find out her favourites
Coxley Woods … these woods have it all!! Trees, stream, duck pond, dens, wild garlic and lots of bluebells … a perfect outdoor adventure for the whole family
(Reviewed May 2020)
It was something for our little boy to focus on during the walk and he did some map reading too to find the next cache, smiley face was added when we found one. Make sure you take some bits of treasure too to do some swaps!!
To download the Geocaching app – click here. We used the basic version which is free but you can pay for the premium upgrade.
National Trust Nostell is a Georgian treasure house, with landscaped gardens, parkland and stables courtyard.
Nostell is one of the greatest treasure houses of the north of England, surrounded by 300 acres of parkland and gardens. Created as an ambitious statement by the Winn family between 1725 and 1785, generations added to the richness of the house, from Robert Adam interiors and a world-class collection of Thomas Chippendale furniture, to priceless paintings and antique curiosities.
Become a Damage Detective and learn about all the things that can damage an old house like Nostell, from dust to light to little bugs, on our new house trail.
Beyond the house, there’s lots to discover. You can wander through the Kitchen Garden and marvel at the towering banana trees. Make the most of your day and explore acres of parkland, grab a bite in the Courtyard Café, or get your muscles moving in the Play Area.
Nostell also has a shop and a second-hand bookstore.
Entry and parking is free for National Trust members. For non-members there is a parking fee of £5, with additional admission charges for the house and gardens.
Please visit the National Trust website for admission fees
Doncaster Road, Nostell, Wakefield WF4 1QE
We love getting out and about in the fresh air and exploring the great outdoors with our family!! We bought a National Trust Family Membership when our little boy was sturdy on his feet and it has been used so many times over the last 3 years!
Click here to read our favourite places within 1 hour of Wakefield.
Pugneys Country Park is a local favourite for a reason. With so many different parts of the park appealing to different people and different age groups. There really is something for everyone.
There are now four story trails around Wakefield District for children with the newest one being added to Pontefract Park! There’s Room on the Broom at Anglers Country Park, Blown Away at Pugneys Country Park, Gnome Roam at Newmillerdam and now Peter’s Peregrine at Pontefract Park.
Alverthorpe Meadows & Wrenthorpe Park consists of grassland, woodland and ponds.
There is a children’s playground and football pitch as well as surfaced paths perfect for buggy walking and bike riding.
Boardwalks and bridges have been built over ponds for wildlife spotting
Free parking off Wrenthorpe Lane
Wrenthorpe Lane,Wrenthorpe, Wakefield, WF2 0HY
Anglers Country Park draws families from afar for so many different reasons. A calming walk around the lake, a lovely bike around on the flat path or a casual stroll with a pushchair.
Download your free I Spy card or collect a card from the Cavendish Shop. Spot the pictures on the card as you follow one of the trails around Strid Wood. Who will be the first to get four in a line? (more…)
Our Welly Walk leads you from the stepping stones to the Cavendish Pavilion cafe, taking in bridges, grassland, ancient woodland and riverside paths.
Children will encounter lots of fun obstacles along the way. Let your little ones put their balance skills to the test, scramble up nets, navigate the pole-to-pole and try their hardest to keep clean as they come down the slides!
Entry to the Welly Walk is included with car parking ticket.Â
A beautiful circular family walk with stream, beautiful village and a fairy door trail near Kirk Smeaton!!
For details of the walk click here
(Reviewed November 2020)
Wonderful parklands and museum to explore, spend time with family, picnic and play.
Bark House Lane, Cawthorne, S75 4AT. Tel: Â 01226 772002
We’ve picked some of our favourite family friendly walks in Wakefield – featuring woods, ponds, ducks, nature reserves and places it’s easy to push a buggy!!
Read our recommendations hereÂ
Dalby Forest, managed by the Forestry Commission, offers over 8,000 acres of woodland to explore, enjoy and discover, including the Grand Father Oak play area for children, family BBQ and picnic areas, adrenalin activities for the thrill seekers and walking and cycling trails for all.
Admission free, just pay to park (£9 per car)
Dalby Forest Visitor Centre, Dalby Forest, North Yorkshire, YO18 7LT. Tel: 01751 460295.
Woodland trail walk around Earnshaws Fencing Centre including fairy doors and information about local wildlife, play equipment as well as loads of summer houses and sheds for the kids to play in!
Grab a coffee and cake at Little Acorns too.
Earnshaws Fencing Centres, Stocksmoor Road, Midgley, WF4 4JG
The woodland is between these two postcodes: WF3 2BX and WF3 2DX, please be considerate of local residents if driving.
A facebook group has also been set up for this walk here.
Formerly a drift mine, landscaped in 1991 and transformed into a country park consisting of wide open spaces, woodland, amenity grassland and ponds, managed to protect and improve its habitats for the benefit of wildlife.
Marked paths suitable for walkers, cyclist and buggies. Platforms around the ponds for pond dipping!
Free parking off Wentworth Terrace (close to Fitzwilliam train station)
Wentworth Terrace, Fitzwilliam, Pontefract, WF9 5BZ
The perfect family day out in the forest!
Go Ape’s first high-ropes experience in West Yorkshire, set within 1500 acres of parkland, the aerial adventures at Temple Newsam can be found in the heart of Menagerie Wood featuring challenging obstacles as increasing heights, a free-fall Tarzan Swing, four tree-to-tree zips and a 46ft sheer drop called The Plummet. It is a vertical drop experience that will leave you feeling seriously exposed. It’s a true leap of faith!
Phone: 01603 895500
Do you ever look at the Oak trees that tower above us and wonder how it all began for them? From a tiny little Acorn. This week we’ve been teaching our Mini Mumblers all about growing Oak Trees from an Acorn. From collecting the acorns, watching them sprout, growing their first leaves to potting them in their first plant pot. This free and easy activity is a wonderful way to spend a chilly Saturday and enjoy for months and even years ahead. (more…)
Just down the road from Anglers Country Park the woodland is largely covered by conifers but there is an aim to return the woodland to oak.
There are lots of wide paths and circular walks of differing lengths and even a small Pixie Village where the centre paths merge.
These woods are perfect for exploring, learning to ride your bike and buggies!
Parking available at Anglers Country Park (payable)
Haw Park Lane, Wintersett, Wakefield, WF4 2EB
This is a large grassland with areas of scrub, and is a conservation area of historic and architectural importance. You can walk freely over all areas of the common!
The annual kite festival is held on the common every September.
Close to the car park is Heath Tea Rooms and the Kings Arms Pub which make a great stop for Sunday lunch after a walk!
Free Parking
Heath Common, Wakefield, WF1 5SL
If you want to escape to green fields and paths with the kids without having to travel too far this is the walk for you!!
I have a strong memory of visiting Hemsworth Water Park as a child with my Auntie. We didn’t live in the area so we had never been before. We had a great time, now that we live nearby I can’t wait to tale mini Mumbler here this summer, it looks even better now and has had some investment no doubt.
Opening Times Easter to the End of September
Playworld Open from 9:30am to 6:00pm on weekends and school holidays. Open from 11:00am to 6:00pm term time. Please note that Playworld is open in the October holidays from 10am to 3pm.
All opening times are subject to weather. During periods of changeable weather please ring 01977 617617 to confirm availability.
Concessions for local residents:
Residents of Hemsworth, Fitzwilliam or Kinsley are entitled to a permit for a reduction in the cost of some of the facilities that are available at the Water Park.
Discover the small but mighty creatures in the much-loved story and learn about the everyday heroic feats of minibeasts in the forest at Sherwood Pines
The new self-led trail features brightly illustrated panels and a trail pack full of fun activities, including your very own mask.
Trail activity packs are available to purchase from the Visitor Centre during opening times and cost just £3.50, trail approx 2km in length
Sherwood Pines, Kings Clipstone, Nottingham, NG21Â 9JL
Restored in the 1980’s this original old pit site consists of woodland, heathland, playing fields and a pond.
There’s a good selection of surfaced paths for buggy walking or riding bikes and most of the paths around the site are named after the various coal seams that were worked at Lofthouse Colliery.
Lofthouse, Wakefield, WF3 3TE
The new nature-based fairy trail, funded by Wakefield Council Culture Grants, is nestled in local woodland at Earnshaws Fencing Centre, Midgley. This is a great FREE activity for families to discover nature in our local environment. Each fairy on the trail represents a different species which lives in the woodland and they have many top tips to share with you about looking after wildlife and the environment.
Newmillerdam is a local favourite. It offers a little something for everyone. From woodland trails, picnic spots, feeding the ducks, kids adventure trails, bird spotting and creepy crawley hunts.
Northwood Trail is nestled in a 100 acre wood at Buttercrambe close to York and this delightful woodland fairy sanctuary is the first of its kind in the world. The eco-aware sanctuary is off grid and, quite uniquely, designed to appeal to adults as much as children. As well as a beautiful woodland trail, it also includes an intriguing Fairy Museum, to display what is believed to be the world’s largest collection of fairy artefacts, collected over many years by owners Carolyn and Christian.
Limited pre allocated slots making for a calmer experience.
Outskirts of York, YO41 1AP.
A great wood for woodland walks.
Carrier only as paths narrow
The wood can be reached on foot from Notton Village, Lee Lane, New Royston and from Keeper Lane, Notton. Limited parking is available on the roadside on Keeper Lane, Notton
Keeper Lane, Notton, Wakefield, WF4 2PB
Whenever we go on a walk where there are ducks, they are always being fed by people of all ages! It is such a good activity to get some fresh air and run off some energy with the kids (as well as being FREE!!)
Just a mile north of the town centre, Pontefract Park holds around 20 events each year and is home to a racecourse, with around 16 race meetings a year between April and October. If you just want a leisurely stroll or a quick jog around the park, then Pontefract Park is an ideal place to visit.
Includes sports pitches and a large enclosed playground with a lake to feed ducks and boating!
Home to the free Parkrun and Junior Parkrun every week.
Free parking
Park Side, Pontefract, WF8 4RD
You can enjoy the beauty of the lake on a circular walk at any time. There are always plenty of opportunities to spot birds and wildlife.
The visitors centre and small cafe
Children can take part in pond dipping during Spring & Summer months
9:30am – 4pm
Access is free, parking charges apply
Newton Lane, Castleford, WF10 2BH
The woodland comprises of ancient woodland and lowland heathland and is perfect for children to play eye spy as they walk around the woods. There is also a walled pond in the centre of the woods which was built in the 1930s as a swimming pool!
Free parking
Seckar Lane, Woolley, Wakefield, WF4 2LE
The Southern Washlands Nature Corridor sites approx 1 miles east of the City and has open water, swamp, marshy grassland, neutral grassland scrub and woodland over a series of four countryside sites.
The individual areas stretch from Stanley Ferry Flash in the North, through Parkhill and the Southern Washlands Nature Reserve, to Half Moon and the Ashfields in the South.
For a map of the area – click here
For four easy walks in the area – click here
Free parking available at Heath Common (WF1 5SL) & Balk Avenue (WF3 4LS)
You can take the circular path around the lake through lovely woodland! There are lots of ducks, bird and wildlife to spot along the way!
Free parking
Lime Pit Lane, WF3 4DF
Thornes Park is Wakefield’s main open space consisting of 60 hectares of open space.
As well as two playgrounds, there is a bike park, a bird aviary, duck pond, miniature railway (chargeable, operating most weekends) sports courts and a 2 mile circular path that follows the perimeter.
The site also houses Thornes Park Athletics Stadium and hosts Thornes Park Park Run and Junior Park Run.
Thornes Road, Wakefield, WF2 8QD
With wetland areas with fishing ponds, woodland, scrub and grassland and surfaced paths throughout the park for walking and cycling this is a great one to stretch the legs! There’s also an adventure playground and playing fields too.
The library is on the edge of the park where there is free parking, a cafe and toilets.
Upton, Pontefract, WF9 2DZ
On the former site of Sharlston West Colliery, this is a brilliant park for buggy walking / running, riding bikes and taking a family walk!
The main paths are wide and mostly flat as they wind around the different ponds and lakes, with lots of ducks, geese and swans, with three coloured routes of distances between 0.5 – 3 miles.
Free Parking
Off Shay Lane, Walton, WF2 6NB
Located in Barnsley, South Yorkshire Wentworth Castle Gardens is perfect for a relaxing family day out. Whether you want to explore the parkland or take a stroll through our historic gardens, there is something for the whole family to enjoy. We guarantee a warm Yorkshire welcome too.
We are open:
10am-5pm every day until October.
For up-to-date winter hours Call: 01226 776040
Yorkshire Sculpture Park (YSP) welcomes families and the family events programme has something for children of all ages to take part in.
