Penrith Castle Park
A free park opposite Penrith station with a genuine castle ruin in it, plus a play area, tennis, bowls and an obstacle golf course that costs a pound or two for juniors. Cafe and toilets on site.
Parks & outdoors Penrith
Parks & outdoors in Penrith
Playgrounds, country parks, woodland trails and nature reserves. Most of these cost nothing.
3 in Penrith1 free3 suit under-5s
Lowther Castle costs £16 for adults and £10 for children, plus £2 to park, and what you are paying for is the playground. A family ticket is £45.
The Lost Castle is turrets, tunnels, drop slides and zip wires in the grounds of a vast roofless ruin, billed as one of the UK's largest adventure playgrounds. Penrith Castle Park opposite the station is free and has its own castle ruin, a play area, a cafe and toilets, with obstacle golf from a pound, and Aira Force is a 65ft waterfall a mile there and back from a car park that costs £7 for two hours.
Parks & outdoors in Penrith
Aira Force and Gowbarrow Park
A 65ft waterfall in National Trust woodland above Ullswater, about a mile there and back from the car park. Tea room, toilets and a picnic area. Parking is £7 for two hours and free for members.
Lowther Castle & Gardens
Come for the playground. The Lost Castle is turrets, tunnels, drop slides and zip wires, built in the grounds of a vast roofless ruin near Penrith and billed as one of the UK's largest adventure playgrounds.
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.