Bitts Park
Carlisle's big riverside park, right under the castle walls: a large play area for all ages, a free splash park in the warmer months, skate park and acres of grass where the Eden and Caldew meet. The obvious free half of a Carlisle day.
Parks & outdoors Carlisle
Parks & outdoors in Carlisle
Playgrounds, country parks, woodland trails and nature reserves. Most of these cost nothing.
4 in Carlisle4 free4 suit under-5s
Start at Bitts Park, under the castle walls, where the play area is large and the splash park is free in the warmer months. Hammond's Pond on the south side has the new concrete skatepark, a games court, free parking on two sides and a miniature railway that runs Sunday afternoons from Easter to October.
Rickerby Park is across the Eden and has cattle grazing loose in it. Watchtree, six miles out on the Solway plain, is free to enter and free to park, with a coffee shop and over a hundred hire bikes suitable for all abilities, and that is worth the drive.
Parks & outdoors in Carlisle
Hammond's Pond
Carlisle's south side park, with free parking on two sides, play zones, a brand new concrete skatepark, a games court and a seasonal cafe. A miniature railway runs Sunday afternoons from Easter to October.
Rickerby Park
A big riverside park across the Eden from Carlisle city centre, with cattle grazing loose, a small free car park off Brampton Road and Hadrian's Wall Path running through over the suspension bridge.
Watchtree Nature Reserve
205 accessible acres on the Solway plain six miles out of Carlisle, free to enter and free to park, with a coffee shop, wildlife hides and over a hundred hire bikes suitable for all abilities.
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 peat bog nature reserve with woodland trails, a visitor centre and an observation tower the kids can climb. Free, close and short enough for little legs.
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.