The Best Walks Near Leeds

The best walks near Leeds start closer than you would think: the Meanwood Valley Trail begins by the university and runs seven miles out to Golden Acre Park, the canal towpath takes you from the city centre past Kirkstall Abbey to Saltaire, and Otley Chevin and Ilkley Moor are both easy days out with proper views. Here are the ones locals actually do, from flat lake loops to a proper moor, with distances and where to start.

Meanwood Valley Trail

The one to start with. The Meanwood Valley Trail is a waymarked 7 mile path from the Henry Marsden statue on Woodhouse Moor to Breary Marsh, just beyond Golden Acre Park. It follows Woodhouse Ridge and Meanwood Beck, crosses Meanwood Park, ducks through a tunnel under the Ring Road into Scotland Woods, and passes the Seven Arches Aqueduct near Adel Crag. You can split it into three chunks if you do not fancy the full seven, and as far as King Lane it doubles as the official Leeds link to the Dales Way.

Golden Acre Park and Eccup Reservoir

If you want flat, gentle and a cafe at the end, Golden Acre Park is six miles north of the city on the A660, between Adel and Bramhope. A well kept circular path goes round the lake, past streams, ponds and woodland, and there is a cafe with outdoor seats, toilets including a changing places facility, and free mobility scooter hire if you book before 10am. Car parks are off Otley Road and Arthington Road. For something longer, the Eccup Reservoir circular starts from Alwoodley Lane and covers 5.2 easy miles through Goodrick Plantation with good picnic spots by the water.

Otley Chevin

The Chevin is the ridge on the south side of Wharfedale, looming over Otley. Park at Surprise View, 282 metres up, and the whole valley opens out in front of you. Turner is said to have taken his inspiration for the stormy sky in Hannibal Crossing the Alps from the Chevin while staying across the valley at Farnley Hall, which tells you something about the weather up there. Every Easter since 1969 a cross has gone up at Surprise View. The name comes from an old Brythonic word for ridge, so the locals have been calling it the hill for well over a thousand years.

Ilkley Moor and the Cow and Calf

Get the train to Ilkley and climb. The classic Ilkley Moor circuit starts at West View Park car park off Wells Road and runs 6.3 miles with about 400 metres of climbing, so allow three to four hours. You pass White Wells, an 18th century bath house with a cafe, cross onto Burley Moor to the Twelve Apostles stone circle, and come back via the Cow and Calf, the gritstone outcrop where the Calf is a boulder about ten metres high. Rocky Valley and The Tarn finish things off. Take a hat and a waterproof, whatever the forecast says.

The canal: city centre to Saltaire

The Leeds and Liverpool Canal is 127 miles long, so you will not do all of it, but the stretch out of Leeds is lovely. The 13 mile Leeds Canal Walk starts at the Royal Armouries, passes Granary Wharf, and follows the towpath through the Kirkstall Valley past Kirkstall Abbey, Rodley Nature Reserve, Bramley Fall and Calverley Woods to Shipley and Saltaire. It is flat the whole way. Do just the first stretch to Kirkstall and stop at the Bridge Inn if you would rather earn a pint than a blister.

Roundhay to Temple Newsam

The Wyke Beck Valley Way runs 6.1 easy miles from Roundhay Park through Wykebeck Woods and Fearnville Fields to Temple Newsam, which has a farm at the end for anyone who brought kids. Do it end to end and you have seen a fair slice of east Leeds on foot.

For birdwatchers: St Aidan's

Out to the south east, the St Aidan's reedbed ramble is a 2.8 mile, buggy friendly loop from the visitor centre past Lemonroyd Lake, with a chance of bitterns, bearded tits and marsh harriers. It is one of the best things you can do with a pair of binoculars near Leeds.

For the ambitious

The full Dales Way Link runs 20 miles from Woodhouse Moor through Adel Woods, over the Chevin and past the Cow and Calf to Ilkley, which is a long, satisfying day. And the Leeds Country Way loops 62 miles right round the city in 12 sections starting from Golden Acre. Pick a section a month and you will have walked round Leeds by the summer. Wear proper boots, check the weather, and remember the moors change their mind faster than you do.