The Singing Ringing Tree is a swirl of galvanised steel pipes on Crown Point, high above Burnley, that catches the wind and produces a low, eerie hum. Kids either find it magical or mildly spooky, and both reactions are correct. Press an ear to the pipes on a still day and it still murmurs. The view takes in the town, Pendle Hill and, when it is clear, the Bowland fells.
Park at the Crown Point car park on Crown Point Road and it is a five to ten minute walk on a compacted gravel path that gets muddy after rain and slopes on the way to the tree. Free, always open, and honestly a twenty minute visit once you are up there. Be straight with everyone about that before you set off.
Longer circular walks link it to Clowbridge Reservoir and Towneley Hall if you want to earn lunch, and Towneley's park makes the obvious second half of a Burnley day.
What it costs: Completely free, including the car park visit itself. No toilets or cafe at the site.
Looking for more parks & outdoors near Burnley?
Sending it to the group chat?
★★★★★ 4.5 across 1,524 Google reviews.
Read all 1,524 reviews on Google - filter by star rating there
The hall is back open after its £3.6m restoration, but the park was always the real family day: playgrounds, gardens, woodland trails and a cafe right by the play area. Park free, parking cheap, and kids get into the hall for nothing.
Burnley's restored Edwardian park does the full seaside-without-the-sea turn: rowing boats, a paddling pool, a volunteer-run miniature railway and a boathouse cafe. Time it for a sunny weekend when everything is actually running.
A warehouse of giant inflatables on Craven Street in Burnley: mega ball pit, launch slide, jump tower and ninja walls. Book the hour, buy the socks, and let them tire themselves out on something that cannot bruise.
A Victorian weaving shed still holding 308 Lancashire looms, with the mill's own steam engine, Peace, and demonstrations of cotton becoming cloth. Children free, and the season ends on 31 October.
Jacobean hall on the edge of Padiham with free gardens, woodland walks and a natural play area. Children go into the hall free with an adult, adults pay £7, and parking is free. A cheap half day with a house thrown in.
Bowling, an arcade, pool tables and Scrapyard Golf crazy golf in central Burnley. A junior game is £8, a family of four £32, and term-time weekdays drop to £5 a game before 5pm. The arcade is where the change goes.
One email a week: what is on this weekend within a sensible drive, and the places worth booking before they go.