Parks & outdoors in Lancaster

You can see the Ashton Memorial from the M6, and Williamson Park below it has a good playground and views over Morecambe Bay. The mini beasts and the butterfly house are up there too, and the butterfly house is the only part you pay for. Crook O' Lune is a picnic site on a horseshoe bend of the river with tables, toilets and £1 a day to park, while Ryelands Park north of the Lune runs a free junior parkrun on Sunday mornings and has an accessible play area for under twelves.

Parks & outdoors in Lancaster

Crook O' Lune Picnic Site

Lancaster~0 min

Turner painted this view, which is worth nothing to a seven year old but does explain the crowds. A picnic site on the horseshoe bend of the Lune with tables, toilets and easy riverside walking.

Free, £1 a day to parkAges 2-11

Ryelands Park

Lancaster

★★★★☆4.0(851)

Forty-six acres north of the Lune with an accessible play area for under twelves, outdoor gym kit and five football pitches. Free parking, and a free junior parkrun every Sunday morning.

FreeAges 2-11

Williamson Park

Lancaster~1 hr

★★★★★4.7(5,660)

The Ashton Memorial dome you can see from the M6, with views across Morecambe Bay, a butterfly house, mini beasts and a good playground below it. Lancaster's best free afternoon.

Park free; butterfly house chargedAges 4-11

Parks & outdoors elsewhere in the North West

Walton Hall & Gardens

Warrington~10 min

★★★★★4.7(6,537)

The reliable default: gardens, a children's zoo, a big playground and plenty of room to run. Pay for parking, nothing else.

Free entryAges 4-11

Risley Moss

Warrington~10 min

★★★★★4.6(745)

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.

FreeAges 4-11

Sherdley Park

St HelensIn town

St Helens' biggest park. Play areas, open space and a walled garden, and it costs nothing.

FreeAges 4-11

Dream, Sutton Manor

St Helens~10 min

★★★★☆4.4(1,301)

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.

FreeAges 4-11

Sankey Valley Park

St HelensIn town

★★★★★4.5(611)

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.

FreeAges 4-11

Speke Hall

Liverpool~30 min

★★★★★4.7(4,896)

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.

National TrustIndoorsAges 4-11