Walks Near York: Circular Routes, Parks and Riversides

Most York walkers start with the city walls, a 3.4km circuit with the Minster in view; the Ouse riverside south over the Millennium Bridge to Bishopthorpe; Askham Bog, the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust’s boardwalk reserve; and the National Trust’s river walk at Beningbrough Hall. Every entry was checked against the council’s, trust’s or owner’s own pages on 26 October 2026.

We have not graded these routes and nothing here is a ranking. Each entry sets out what City of York Council, Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, the National Trust and the other path owners publish: distance, time, surface, gates and stiles, dogs, parking and what to watch for. Several of these walks run beside the Ouse, Foss or Derwent, which flood most winters, so check river levels before a riverside walk.

In the city

York city walls

Visit York gives the walls as 3.4 kilometres, the longest medieval town walls in England, and says a full circuit takes about two hours. The council’s opening times page says the walkway usually opens at 8am and the gates start locking at dusk from Fishergate Postern Tower, anti-clockwise; from the October clock change to the end of January that begins at 3.30pm and takes about an hour. It stays shut on icy days, in very high winds and on Christmas Day; Visit York on 01904 909487 can tell you if it is closed. Dogs are not allowed, except assistance dogs, and Visit York says the narrow wall-walk is not practical for wheelchairs or pushchairs. The section between Bootham Bar and Monk Bar is closed until Friday 30 October 2026 for tree work and stonemason maintenance, with signs to other access points. Free.

Millennium Bridge to Bishopthorpe, along the Ouse

The council’s iTravel York trail leaflet gives this as a 6-mile, two-hour return walk: south from the Millennium Bridge along the Ouse past Rowntree Park, through riverside fields to Bishopthorpe and the Archbishop’s palace, then back past Middlethorpe and the edge of the Knavesmire racecourse. The leaflet says the riverside half has three stiles and the Bishopthorpe to York half is “accessible to all”. For a shorter loop, cross the Millennium Bridge and come back along New Walk on the east bank. The riverside paths are in the Ouse floodplain and go under water when the river is high; Rowntree Park itself is shut as a precaution then. Our playgrounds guide has the park’s hours and toilets.

Hob Moor Local Nature Reserve, Dringhouses

Part of the Knavesmire, one of York’s ancient commons, and grazed by cattle from late spring to the end of summer, so the council asks for dogs on leads. Its reserve page describes a surfaced foot and cycle path around the edge and informal paths across, with a circular walk that takes “an experienced walker just over an hour”, views of the Minster and interpretation panels. Look for broad medieval ridge and furrow, narrower Napoleonic ridges, and the Plague Stone and Hobstone on Little Hob Moor; skylark and meadow pipit breed here. Entrances include Tadcaster Road, Hob Moor Drive, Green Lane, Thanet Road and North Lane, which has two parking spaces. Buses from the city centre stop at Pulleyn Drive.

Clifton and Rawcliffe Ings, from Rawcliffe Bar

A 3.5-mile loop from the Rawcliffe Bar Country Park by the Park and Ride, described by Welcome to Yorkshire: out through the trees behind the bus stop, along a raised flood-defence path by the Ouse, under the ring road bridge and back through open meadows, mostly on cycle and concrete paths. The guide suggests going anticlockwise to reach the river early, and calls it good for dogs and families. The council says the only toilets are at the Park and Ride, whose car park gates normally lock at 11.05pm (6.30pm on Sundays); the country park also has a free climbing boulder and pump bike track. The ings flood when the Ouse is high. YO30 5RR.

The Foss Walk, Blue Bridge to Haxby

The River Foss Society’s Foss Walk runs 28.5 miles from Blue Bridge, near where the Foss meets the Ouse, to Easingwold market place. The society says the first stretch, from York to Duncombe Farm just above Strensall, follows the river almost all the way, and links to a York St John University map for the York to Haxby section, which passes Huntington church on the way. It warns that waymarking is poor in many places, so take a map. Haxby and Strensall are on bus routes back to the city, which makes a linear walk practical.

South and east of York

The Solar System path, York to Riccall

The old East Coast Main Line trackbed, bought for £1 by the charity now called Walk Wheel Cycle Trust and turned into one of its first traffic-free paths. Between Bishopthorpe and Riccall it carries a 10.4km scale model of the solar system built by three University of York scientists, with each planet placed at its proportional distance from the Sun, so a walk to Saturn and back is a long but level outing. The trust gives the full York to Selby route as 14.2 miles, about 94% asphalt and 77% traffic-free, and it is shared with cyclists. It joins the riverside at Bishopthorpe, so it links with the Millennium Bridge walk above.

Fulford and Heslington Tillmire

The council’s walk 9 is 4¾ miles and about two hours, with no stiles and four gates. It starts at the end of Fordlands Road, off Fulford Main Street, and follows Forest Lane over the A64 into open country, then crosses a footbridge onto Heslington Tillmire, common land that is a Site of Special Scientific Interest for its marshy grassland and fen plants, where the leaflet says lapwing, snipe and curlew breed. The council publishes 11 more village walks on the same page, from 1.5 to 6.5 miles, including Bishopthorpe, Elvington, New Earswick and Wheldrake, all reachable by public transport. Questions about the paths go to the council’s rights of way team on 01904 551550.

Wheldrake Ings, Lower Derwent Valley

A 157-hectare floodplain reserve on the Derwent, which Yorkshire Wildlife Trust calls the jewel in the crown of the Lower Derwent Valley National Nature Reserve. In winter it holds flocks of ducks, geese, swans and waders, watched from three hides (Tower, Pool and Swantail) along level permissive paths that get muddy. Two things to know before you go: no dogs are allowed, and the trust says the river often floods the valley, cutting off the site and its car park for three to five months a year, from late autumn. When that happens, it suggests parking at Natural England’s Bank Island reserve next door. Open at all times. YO19 6AX.

North and west of York

Beningbrough Hall river and woodland walk

A waymarked 3.5-mile (5.6km) circuit from the National Trust car park at Beningbrough Hall, through parkland and woods and along the Ouse to where the Nidd joins it, past the Victorian water tower. The trust gives it one hour 45 minutes to two hours 20, rated moderate: mostly flat bark-chipped paths, some hillier parts, narrow riverside paths with tree roots and several gates. Dogs on leads are welcome in the parkland but must not go into the fields, and the riverbank is the one stretch not fenced off from cattle. Parking is free, and the hall has toilets with baby changing, a play area, a shop, the Brew House and a restaurant (our listing). YO30 1DD.

Strensall Common

A 42-hectare Yorkshire Wildlife Trust reserve, part of what the trust calls internationally important lowland heath in the Vale of York, and a Special Area of Conservation. There is a 1.5-mile circuit on public and permissive paths, which the trust warns are uneven and can be very boggy, and you cross the railway, so take care at the level crossing. Adders and common lizards live here, so stay on the paths; the heather turns purple in August, and Hebridean sheep graze in summer. The trust says dogs must be on a lead and are not allowed on the common itself, only on the surrounding paths. Roadside parking only, at the Common Road level crossing lay-by or near the cattle grid. YO32 5YB.

Askham Bog, Copmanthorpe

The reserve where Yorkshire Wildlife Trust began, and a Site of Special Scientific Interest: 44 hectares of surviving ancient peatland. The trust’s page now welcomes visitors back after this year’s boardwalk work, and describes a loop of about 750m around the centre of the bog, suitable for most wheelchairs and pushchairs but slippery when wet; off the boardwalk the ground is boggy, with unmarked ditches and pools. More than 800 moth species have been recorded, alongside roe deer, emperor dragonflies, nuthatches and treecreepers. Dogs must be on a lead and stay on the boardwalk. Open at all times; gravel car park at the entrance, no toilets on site. YO23 2UB.

How we chose

These are the walks people search for near York, chosen on what can be checked: routes published by City of York Council, Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, the National Trust, Walk Wheel Cycle Trust and the River Foss Society, plus one route described by Welcome to Yorkshire. Distances and times are theirs, not ours. We checked every entry against those pages on 26 October 2026. Riverside paths flood, reserves close for works and the walls shut on icy mornings, so check before a long trip.

For more ideas, see things to do in York, what’s on in York this month, our playgrounds guide, and for afterwards our guides to York pubs, York cafes and Sunday roast in York, or browse the York business directory.

Run a place that should be here, or spot something that has changed? Email newsdesk@theyorktimes.co.uk.

Frequently asked questions

Can you take a dog on York’s city walls?

No. Visit York says dogs are not allowed on the city walls, except assistance dogs. Dogs on leads are welcome on the Beningbrough river walk parkland, Hob Moor and the Ouse riverside paths; at Askham Bog they must stay on a lead on the boardwalk, and Wheldrake Ings allows no dogs at all.

What time do York’s city walls close in winter?

City of York Council says the walls usually open at 8am and the gates start locking at 3.30pm from the October clock change through January, a process that takes about an hour, starting at Fishergate Postern Tower. They stay shut on icy days, in very high winds and on Christmas Day.

Which walks near York are suitable for wheelchairs and pushchairs?

The Askham Bog boardwalk, a loop of about 750m, is suitable for most wheelchairs and pushchairs, according to Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, though it is slippery when wet. The York to Riccall Solar System path is almost all asphalt and traffic-free. The city walls are not practical for wheelchairs or pushchairs.