Dalston’s biggest
The Green
Park or garden
5.0 ha (12 acres)0.4 km of path
7 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
Centralin the middle of Dalston
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: Jo and Steve Turner · CC BY-SA 2.0C−Outdoors Grade
Outdoors in Dalston · parks, paths & countryside
Parks and walks in Dalston
The Solway Coast National Landscape and the Lake District National Park both begin about 6 miles from the village’s edge. 8 km of footpaths run through the village and the kilometre around it, 0.9 for every square kilometre. Parks and playing fields in Dalston add up to 3.4 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. Dalston grades C− for the outdoors. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Green space
3.4 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical UK town 2.1
Near a park
66%
of residents within 400 m
Typical UK town 83%
Footpaths
8 km
0.9 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical UK town 3.0 per km²
Protected landscape
0%
of the land within 5 km
Solway Coast starts 5.0 mi out, past the 5 km
Character
What kind of outdoors village is Dalston?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
Countryside both waysSolway Coast starts 5.0 mi north, Lake District 5.8 mi south-west.Few mapped footpaths0.9 km of path per km²; the typical UK town has 3.0.
Dalston’s strongest suit is two protected landscapes close by. Where it falls short is footpaths.
Outdoors grade
Dalston grades C− for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Dalston, the dashed line the typical town. The number is the share of towns it beats; the five are averaged and the average ranked again.
C−
Better than 16% of UK towns45th of 60 UK villages its size
Public green space3.4 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
75out of
100
100
A park within a walk66%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
26out of
100
100
National Park or National Landscape0%of the land within 5 km · Solway Coast begins just past 5 km
31out of
100
100
Footpaths0.9 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
5out of
100
100
The sea0%of the area within 5 km · Inland
42out of
100
100
Graded, never part of the overall grade (like History and Civic life). It measures what is mapped: OS Open Greenspace leaves out woodland and open-access land that isn’t a park, and OpenStreetMap’s rural paths are more complete in some places than others.
Villages its size
Dalston is 45th of 60 UK villages its size for the outdoors
The 60 UK towns and cities of 1,500 to 1,600 people with an Outdoors Grade. Hover a dot for its figures; tap one for its page.
Outdoors score: the share of UK towns each one beats
Footpath, km per km²
Dalston0.9
Villages its size2.3
Cumbria towns2.1
All UK towns3.0
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Dalston3.4
Villages its size2.1
Cumbria towns2.0
All UK towns2.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Dalston66%
Villages its size78%
Cumbria towns84%
All UK towns83%
Against villages its size, Dalston stands out most for park space per resident: only 15 of the other 59 have more. It falls furthest behind on path per km², where 54 of the others do better.
Show as a table
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fairlight East Sussex | A+ | 39.6 | 50% | 3.3 | 42% |
| 2 | Ewhurst Surrey | A | 4.3 | 76% | 4.6 | 46% |
| 3 | Newfield County Durham | A | 8.3 | 100% | 4.5 | 0% |
| 4 | Haverigg Cumbria | A | 4.7 | 67% | 2.5 | 11% |
| 5 | North Bradley Wiltshire | A | 3.4 | 100% | 4.6 | 0% |
| 6 | Middle Winterslow Wiltshire | A | 7 | 100% | 3.5 | 0% |
| 7 | Collett's Green Worcestershire | A | 3.5 | 100% | 4.3 | 0% |
| 8 | Llanrug Gwynedd | A− | 1.7 | 100% | 1.7 | 6% |
| 9 | Longwick Buckinghamshire | B+ | 2 | 100% | 2.3 | 31% |
| 10 | Temple Cloud Somerset | B+ | 2.6 | 77% | 3.9 | 15% |
| 11 | Blackhall Mill County Durham | B+ | 3.4 | 100% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 12 | Kimpton Hertfordshire | B+ | 3.7 | 100% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 13 | Castleside County Durham | B+ | 0.9 | 100% | 3 | 42% |
| 14 | Ambergate Derbyshire | B+ | 2.4 | 100% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 15 | Caer-went Gwent | B+ | 1.8 | 100% | 0.8 | 8% |
| 16 | Ramsbury Wiltshire | B+ | 3.9 | 62% | 2.3 | 100% |
| 17 | Kensworth Bedfordshire | B | 1.8 | 79% | 3 | 59% |
| 18 | Tideswell Derbyshire | B | 1.5 | 100% | 1.6 | 97% |
| 19 | Burford Oxfordshire | B | 3.5 | 84% | 1.2 | 53% |
| 20 | Potterne Wiltshire | B | 1.3 | 77% | 5.1 | 8% |
| 21 | South Godstone Surrey | B | 2 | 100% | 1.8 | 5% |
| 22 | Bridge Kent | B− | 2.2 | 60% | 2.7 | 44% |
| 23 | Mundford Norfolk | B− | 3.1 | 100% | 1.6 | 0% |
| 24 | Foxhole Cornwall | B− | 2.9 | 100% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 25 | Gotham Nottinghamshire | B− | 3.9 | 83% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 26 | Carharrack Cornwall | C+ | 0.7 | 80% | 4.2 | 2% |
| 27 | Gilfach Goch Mid Glamorgan | C+ | 2.9 | 100% | 1.4 | 0% |
| 28 | Mylor Bridge Cornwall | C+ | 1.1 | 63% | 1.2 | 49% |
| 29 | Langley Vale Surrey | C+ | 0.8 | 53% | 5.5 | 7% |
| 30 | Bacton and Cotton Suffolk | C+ | 4.4 | 70% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 31 | Gretton Northamptonshire | C+ | 2.3 | 100% | 1.3 | 0% |
| 32 | Rufford Lancashire | C | 2.8 | 70% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 33 | Anna Valley and Upper Clatford Hampshire | C | 2.2 | 77% | 3 | 0% |
| 34 | Sibsey Lincolnshire | C | 2.4 | 100% | 0.2 | 0% |
| 35 | Kingsley Cheshire | C | 3.4 | 81% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 36 | Flitton Bedfordshire | C | 1.4 | 49% | 3.3 | 6% |
| 37 | Geddington Northamptonshire | C | 3 | 82% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 38 | Freeland Oxfordshire | C | 1.4 | 53% | 2.6 | 17% |
| 39 | Waresley Worcestershire | C | 1.7 | 100% | 1 | 0% |
| 40 | Glapwell Derbyshire | C− | 2.2 | 60% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 41 | Haslingfield Cambridgeshire | C− | 2 | 80% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 42 | Yalding Kent | C− | 7.1 | 21% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 43 | Sandleheath Hampshire | C− | 0.1 | 0% | 2.6 | 52% |
| 44 | Tidbury Green West Midlands | C− | 2.4 | 49% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 45 | Dalston Cumbria | C− | 3.4 | 66% | 0.9 | 0% |
| 46 | Greens Norton Northamptonshire | C− | 1.2 | 66% | 3.1 | 0% |
| 47 | Braunston Northamptonshire | D | 1.8 | 50% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 48 | Croft Cheshire | D | 1.1 | 79% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 49 | Heighington County Durham | D | 2.6 | 64% | 0.4 | 0% |
| 50 | Tetney Lincolnshire | D | 1.5 | 79% | 1.1 | 0% |
| 51 | Broadclyst Devon | D | 1.4 | 78% | 1.4 | 0% |
| 52 | Wood End (North Warwickshire) Warwickshire | D | 1.1 | 74% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 53 | Camblesforth North Yorkshire | D | 0.3 | 81% | 1.3 | 0% |
| 54 | Aberford West Yorkshire | D− | 1.3 | 22% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 55 | Burton Green Warwickshire | D− | 0 | 0% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 56 | Gayton Norfolk | D− | 1.6 | 62% | 0.8 | 0% |
| 57 | Edgmond Shropshire | D− | 1.7 | 33% | 1.4 | 0% |
| 58 | Leasingham Lincolnshire | D− | 1.3 | 50% | 0.9 | 0% |
| 59 | South Broomhill Northumberland | D− | 0 | 0% | 0.5 | 0% |
| 60 | Great Bricett Suffolk | D− | 1.2 | 0% | 1.4 | 0% |
The map
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Dalston’s built-up area.
Green space: parks, gardens, playing fields and play spaces, named or not.© OpenStreetMap contributors · Contains OS data © Crown copyright · Natural England / NRW
Places to walk
Parks to walk in, in and around Dalston
The biggest is The Green, 5.0 ha (12 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
Close to home
7 in 10 Dalston residents live within a 5-minute walk of a park
Each square is 1 in 100 residents: green lives within 400 m of a public park, garden or playing field (Census 2021 output areas against OS Open Greenspace).
Within 400 m (66%)Further (34%)
Dalston66%
Villages its size78%
Cumbria towns84%
All UK towns83%
About 500 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees.
National Parks & National Landscapes
Solway Coast and Lake District both start about 6 miles from Dalston
Protected landscapes within 30 km, by direction and distance from the edge of the built-up area; circle size shows each one’s area. National Landscapes were called Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty until 2023.
National ParkNational LandscapeThe 5 km the grade counts
Protected landscape begins just outside the 5 km ring the Outdoors Grade measures, so Dalston scores 0% on it even though the Solway Coast National Landscape is 5.0 mi away. Lake District National Park covers 2,362 km² and has been a National Park since 1951.
Footpaths & waymarked walks
1 waymarked walk passes through or near Dalston
8 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Dalston and the kilometre around it, 0.9 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0). Bars show each route’s kilometres within 2 km of the village.
Regional
Cumbria Way6.5 km
The regional route here is the Cumbria Way.
Waymarked walks are OpenStreetMap walking routes. Public rights of way are only as complete as the map in each area.
When to get out
The best walking months in Dalston: May to September
The village’s 1991–2020 averages (Met Office HadUK-Grid) and the daylight at its latitude. Outlined months have 12½+ hours of daylight, highs of 15 °C or more and little rain for the town.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight (h) | 7.8 | 9.6 | 11.7 | 14.0 | 16.1 | 17.3 | 16.8 | 14.9 | 12.6 | 10.3 | 8.3 | 7.2 |
| High (°C) | 7 | 7 | 9 | 12 | 16 | 18 | 20 | 19 | 17 | 13 | 10 | 7 |
| Rain (mm) | 77 | 63 | 60 | 46 | 53 | 73 | 77 | 86 | 73 | 95 | 92 | 94 |
April is the driest month (46 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 20 °C). Winter days are short, about 7 hours of daylight in December, and 95 mm of rain falls in October, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 47 nights a year. The climate in Dalston →
Things to do
2 playgrounds and the nearest beaches
Mapped within 2 km of the village in OpenStreetMap, against the typical UK village its size per resident. Named places are listed with directions; unnamed ones are only counted.
The nearest beaches
Dalston is inland. These are the nearest named beaches, measured from the edge of the village.
The Beach19 mi from Dalston’s edge
DirectionsDouble Mills Beach20 mi from Dalston’s edge
DirectionsNorth Beach31 mi from Dalston’s edge
DirectionsGood to know
Check the water before you swim. The Environment Agency tests designated bathing waters from May to September and publishes a rating for each beach.
Every named place, with directions
Playgrounds 2
Plus 2 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Campsites 1
Camping at cardewlees0.5 mi from town
DirectionsNext door
The outdoors in nearby towns
The nearest towns of 1,000+ within 12 miles. Tap a town for its outdoors page.
CarlisleScotbyHoughtonWetheralWigtonWarwick BridgeDalston
ABCDOutdoors Grade
Carlisle, 3.6 miles away, grades A−, the best next door: 91% of its residents live within 400 m of a park.
Questions about the outdoors in Dalston
What is the biggest park in Dalston?
The Green, 5.0 ha (12 acres). 1 named park, garden or playing field is in the village or within 400 m of it.
Is Dalston near a National Park?
Yes. Lake District National Park begins 5.8 mi south-west of the village’s edge. It covers 2,362 km² and has been a National Park since 1951. The nearest protected landscape of any kind is the Solway Coast National Landscape, 5.0 mi away.
What are the best walks near Dalston?
1 waymarked walking route passes within 2 km of the village, including the Cumbria Way.
What is the nearest beach to Dalston?
The Beach, 19 mi from the edge of the village, then Double Mills Beach (20 mi). Dalston itself is inland.
How many people in Dalston live near a park?
66% of residents live within 400 m, about a 5-minute walk, of a public park, garden or playing field (Census 2021 output areas against OS Open Greenspace). The typical UK town is 83%.
When is the best time of year for walking in Dalston?
May to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Is Dalston good for walking?
Paths are thinner than most towns: 0.9 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 5% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 75% (3.4 ha per 1,000 residents).
How is the Outdoors Grade worked out?
From five measures, each placed among UK towns of 1,000 or more: public green space per resident, the share living near a park, National Park or National Landscape within 5 km, footpaths per square kilometre, and the sea within 5 km. It is a character grade and isn’t part of Dalston’s overall grade.
Sources
Where Dalston’s outdoors figures come from
- Parks and green space: Ordnance Survey OS Open Greenspace (parks and gardens, playing fields, play spaces, and their access points). Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026, Open Government Licence v3.0.
- National Parks and National Landscapes: Natural England and Natural Resources Wales boundaries, areas and designation dates, Open Government Licence v3.0.
- Footpaths, walking routes, beaches and things to do: © OpenStreetMap contributors, Open Database License (ODbL), via Geofabrik, 16 October 2026.
- Historic parks, listed buildings and monuments: Historic England, National Heritage List for England, Open Government Licence v3.0.
- Rain and temperature: Met Office HadUK-Grid 1991–2020 averages for the town; daylight calculated from its latitude.
- The sea: ONS Countries (December 2024) boundaries clipped to mean high water. Residents near a park: ONS Census 2021 output areas.
- Grade: TownRatings’ Outdoors Grade, ranked against UK towns only.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.