Walby Farm Park
Cumbria's big family farm park: animal handling, giant jumping pillows, pedal go-karts and an indoor play barn big enough to lose a wet afternoon in. The far-north option when you are up that way.
Hammond's Pond
Carlisle, Cumbria
Hammond's Pond is the park for Upperby, on the south side of Carlisle, and it has just had real money spent on it. A new concrete skatepark, designed by Canvas and shaped by local skaters, young people and families, opened in April 2026 under Cumberland's Start with the Park scheme, and the children's play area has been resurfaced in wet pour so a wheelchair or a scooter can actually get onto it.
The everyday version is two free car parks, flat accessible paths that loop, full size and junior football pitches, an all weather games area and public toilets. The cafe runs 9am to 5pm every day from 1 April, or Easter if that comes first, through to 30 November.
The miniature railway is the reason a lot of Carlisle families come at all. Carlisle and District Model Engineering Society run it from 2pm to 4pm, Sundays only, Easter to the end of October. It is not a permanent fixture and the council publish no price. Treat it as a bonus if it happens to be running.
Know before you go
- Sunday afternoon is the day to come. The miniature railway only runs 2pm to 4pm on Sundays between Easter and the end of October, and nothing else here is time limited.
- No fare is published for the railway anywhere on the council site. Take coins, and do not promise anything until you can see it running.
- The cafe closes for the winter on 30 November and does not come back until April. Between those dates it is a flask job.
- The skatepark opened in April 2026 and it is concrete, so it pulls in older kids and BMXs. Fine, but keep a toddler on the play area side.
Seasonal: Miniature railway Sundays, Easter to October. Check before travelling.
Looking for more parks & outdoors near Carlisle?
Also in Carlisle
Carlisle Castle
A working border fortress for 900 years, not a fairytale castle: a squat red keep full of prisoners' carvings, ramparts to walk and a military museum inside the walls. English Heritage, so members go free and everyone else should book online for the discount.
Tullie
Carlisle's museum, plain Tullie since the rebrand, mid-transformation and all the better for it: under-18s go free, the adult ticket is £8.50, and £16 buys an annual pass. New galleries opened in 2025, though some of the old favourites are shut for the next phase.
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.
Solway Aviation Museum
A genuine Avro Vulcan and a line of Cold War aircraft parked on the apron at Carlisle Airport, with volunteers who open them up and let children climb inside. Canberra, Sea Prince and Trident stay open all year.
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.