Corporation Park
Blackburn's showpiece Victorian park: a triumphal arch at the gate, two lakes with swans, a playground right beside them and a lime-tree avenue climbing the hill. Free, and less than a mile from the town centre.
Parks & outdoors Blackburn
Parks & outdoors in Blackburn
Playgrounds, country parks, woodland trails and nature reserves. Most of these cost nothing.
3 in Blackburn3 free3 suit under-5s
Not one of Blackburn's three big parks charges for entry, and at Witton the main car parks are 80p for two hours, with the Tower Road and Pleasington car parks free. Witton is 480 acres of woodland trails and adventure playgrounds behind a visitor centre in the old Victorian stables, which is enough to absorb an afternoon. Corporation Park does the Victorian showpiece thing less than a mile from the town centre, arch and lakes and swans, while Sunnyhurst Wood over on the edge of Darwen hides carved wooden animals along its paths and still sells ice cream from a 1912 tea kiosk.
Parks & outdoors in Blackburn
Sunnyhurst Wood
Eighty five acres of steep wooded valley on the edge of Darwen, with a brook, footbridges, carved wooden animals hidden along the paths and a 1912 tea kiosk that still sells ice cream. Free, and Green Flag rated.
Witton Country Park
Blackburn's biggest green space: 480 acres with adventure playgrounds, woodland trails and a visitor centre in the old Victorian stables. Free to walk in and £2 at most to park, and it absorbs a whole afternoon without anyone asking for much money.
Parks & outdoors elsewhere in the North West
Walton Hall & Gardens
The reliable default: gardens, a children's zoo, a big playground and plenty of room to run. Pay for parking, nothing else.
Risley Moss
A raised peat bog nature reserve at Birchwood with woodland trails, bird hides and a visitor centre with toilets. Free, close and short enough for little legs, but closed on Fridays.
Sherdley Park
St Helens' biggest park. Play areas, open space and a walled garden, and it costs nothing.
Dream, Sutton Manor
A 20-metre white head rising out of a reclaimed colliery, with woodland trails around it. Genuinely strange and memorable for kids, and a short walk rather than a hike.
Sankey Valley Park
A green corridor of canal towpath and parkland running from St Helens down towards Warrington. Flat, traffic-free and ideal if the bikes or scooters are coming.
Speke Hall
A Tudor hall with woodland walks, a maze and a natural play area in the grounds. Free if you have National Trust membership, and the indoor house is a good rain fallback.
What’s on near you, every Friday
One email a week: what is on this weekend within a sensible drive, and the places worth booking before they go.