Yorkshire's ten best spring walks

This chalk headland plunging 200ft into the North Sea supports the biggest seabird colonies on the UK mainland. By April every available inch of ledge is occupied by nesting gannets, razorbills, guillemots and kittiwakes, while burrows in the soft earth near the clifftop host thousands of parrot-like puffins. The noise and activity, not to mention the smell, can be overpowering but nowhere else can you get so close to nesting birds. The best walk to safe viewpoints begins at the North Landing car park and follows the well-signposted Headland Way path northwards to the RSPB reserve at Bempton. If you have them, binoculars are a must.
Distance 6 miles. Time 3 hours. Start North Landing (Satnav: YO15 1BJ). Map OS Explorer 301 Scarborough, Bridlington & Flamborough Head.

April provides a brief window to enjoy one of Yorkshire’s most beautiful spring sights, purple saxifrage. Beards of pale pink and mulberry stars adorning the limestone cliffs of Pen-y-ghent are out of bounds to coach parties and motorists so the only way to see them is to pull on walking boots and head for the 1,900ft contour, where they lie just off the well-trodden Three Peaks footpath. The route is mostly easy going, following the Foxup bridleway signpost on Horton’s main street and continuing along a lovely walled track known as Horton Scar Lane. There’s a right turn towards Pen-y-ghent at a gate and, where a signpost takes the path summitward, a brief scramble left to reach crags on Pen-y-ghent Side.
Distance 5 miles. Time 2½ hours. Start Horton-in-Ribblesdale. Map OS Explorer OL2 Yorkshire Dales Southern & Western areas.

Off the beaten track but well worth the effort is this lovely outing in Widdale, a lesser known Yorkshire dale running from Upper Wensleydale towards Ribblehead. A farm called Mirk Pot hosts a remarkable sanctuary for red squirrels. Starting on the narrow road to Snaizeholme, the squirrel trail officially begins at a left turn to the farmhouse. From here it is signposted into woodland where special feeders provide walkers with excellent views of some of the 20 or so squirrels thought to live there. At Stone Gill Foot the trail swings right to return to Widdale Foot. You may also see roe deer and forest birds like common crossbill and siskin.
Distance 5 miles. Time 3 hours. Start Widdale Chapel on B6255 west of Hawes. Map OS Explorer OL2 Yorkshire Dales Southern & Western areas.

The wild daffodils festooning the banks of the River Dove in the North York Moors have drawn crowds of visitors for decades. Narcissus pseudonarcissus are shorter-stemmed than cultivated varieties, and according to local legend these ones were planted in medieval times by Cistercian monks from Rosedale Abbey on the other side of Blakey Ridge. The route is well-maintained and easy to follow from Low Mill to the hamlet of Church Houses. Many walkers then complete the signposted circular route by continuing uphill past the church and turning right to follow good field paths along the eastern side of Farndale.
Distance 3½ miles. Time 2 hours. Start Low Mill, 6 miles north from A170 at Kirkbymoorside. Map Explorer OL26 North York Moors Western Area.

Spreading along the north side of Wharfedale from Ilkley is one of the most famous areas of bluebell woodland in England. Three separate woods – Hudson’s, Coppy and Stubham Woods – are collectively named after former squire William Middleton and total 100 acres. The smoky haze of bluebells can be enjoyed from an intricate network of paths meandering beneath oaks and sycamores. The starting point is accessed by walking downhill from Ilkley’s main traffic lights, descending steps on the right to follow a riverside path, and taking a footbridge. The main path bears left uphill, crosses a road and continues through Coppy Wood. It is hard to get lost and, therefore, worth finding a different return path.
Distance 4 miles. Time 2 hours. Start Ilkley Town Centre. Map OS Explorer 297 Lower Wharfedale & Upper Washburn Valley.

The dale and its small offshoots are beautiful chalk downland. Steep banks remained out of reach of ploughs, and the thin calcium-rich soils host numerous wildflowers including thousands of cowslips in spring. But the real joy of this part of the Yorkshire Wolds is the emergence of butterflies like orange-tips, comma, small and green-veined whites, common blues and brown argus. The classic route heads south from the Gait Inn, follows the lane uphill to turn left on the Yorkshire Wolds Way, then continues to Sylvan Dale. From there join the road and return to the village, visiting beautiful Millington Wood along the way.
Distance 6 miles. Time 3 ½ hours. Start Millington, off B1246 near Pocklington. Map OS Explorer 294 Market Weighton & Yorkshire Wolds Central.

Walton Hall at Wakefield was the world’s first nature reserve, the work of Victorian eccentric Charles Waterton. His home is now a hotel but the lake and woodland he established are still rich in wildlife and an excellent place to see spring unfold. Birds on the Walton Hall lake include pochard, tufted ducks, coots, dabchicks and great crested grebes. Still visible is the watchtower built by Waterton to observe a heronry. The Waterton Trail is well signposted from the visitor centre and the route along lakeside paths and through woodland is clear. The lake at Anglers Country Park, seen the start of the walk, was created from one of the deepest opencast mines in Europe.
Distance 3 1/2 miles. Time 2 hours. Start Anglers Country Park, Wakefield (Satnav: WF4 2EB). Map OS Explorer 278 Sheffield & Barnsley.

City dwellers may feel less engaged with the arrival of spring, but in Leeds this green corridor brings the countryside to within a mile of the centre. Within minutes you are wrapped in a woodland carpeted with wild garlic and wood anemones, listening to great spotted woodpeckers and chiffchaffs. Further on red kites float overhead and roe deer hop between trees. Bullfinches and kingfishers add colour. As the Meanwood Valley Trail runs north suburbs like Headingley and Meanwood are largely hidden. Leave the path after Adel Woods by turning left on Stair Foot Lane to finish in the beautiful churchyard of St. John the Baptist, Adel.
Distance 5 miles. Time 3 hours. Start Alderman Marsden statue on Woodhouse Moor at junction of Raglan Road, Leeds LS2. Map OS Explorer 289 Leeds.

Often compared to the better-known Brimham Rocks, the Bridestones are outcrops of sandstone weathered into weird sculptures. They stand at the head of Dalby Forest in the North York Moors on a 300-acre nature reserve run by the National Trust. There is a mix of oakwood and moorlands with rare lichens and a marshy area around lovely Dovedale Beck. Watch out for adders sunbathing, and the carnivorous sundew plant capturing insects. Turtle doves and princely raptor the goshawk have been recorded, plus water voles and small pearl-bordered fritillary. Choose optional routes from the car park
Distance 4 miles. Time 2 hours. Start Bridestones car park accessed from Dalby Forest Drive. Follow brown sign off A179 north of Pickering. Map Explorer OL27 North York Moors Eastern Area.

Perhaps the best walking area in the Vale of York, and particularly special being one of the last lowland heaths in the North. These 700 acres of heather, woodland, scrub, mosses, mires and ponds are how much of England looked hundreds of years ago. Almost 80 species of birds breed here, and in spring there’s a good chance of seeing aerial displays by tree pipits and woodlarks while grasshopper warblers utter long strings of notes reminiscent of a fishing reel. A nature reserve run by Natural England, the walking route from the car park is helpfully marked out with posts bearing yellow rings.
Distance 5 miles. Time 2 hours. Start Sandy Lane car park, just south of Skipwith Village, signposted off A163 east of Selby. Map OS Explorer 290 York.