Ulverston’s biggest
Ford Park
Park or garden
3.2 ha (8 acres)0.6 km of path
10 minto walk all 0.6 km of path
4 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
0.5 mi northfrom the centre
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: Rich Tea · CC BY-SA 2.0COutdoors Grade
Outdoors in Ulverston · parks, paths & countryside
Ulverston is on the coast, on the King Charles III English Coast Path
The sea makes up 18% of the area within 5 km. The Lake District National Park begins 1.1 mi from the town’s edge. Parks and playing fields in Ulverston add up to 0.7 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. Ulverston grades C for the outdoors: #20 of 23 in Cumbria. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Green space
0.7 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical UK town 2.1
Near a park
60%
of residents within 400 m
Typical UK town 83%
Footpaths
47 km
1.8 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical UK town 3.0 per km²
Protected landscape
8%
of the land within 5 km
Nearest: Lake District National Park
The sea
18%
of the area within 5 km
A coastal town
Character
What kind of outdoors town is Ulverston?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
On the coast18% of the area within 5 km is sea.Countryside both waysLake District starts 1.1 mi north-east, Arnside & Silverdale 5.6 mi east.On a National TrailThe King Charles III English Coast Path passes through.Less park per person0.7 ha of parks and playing fields per 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1.
Ulverston’s strongest suit is the sea, followed by two protected landscapes close by. Where it falls short is park space per person.
Outdoors grade
Ulverston grades C for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Ulverston, 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 29% of UK towns#20 of 23 in Cumbria · 43rd of 60 UK towns its size
Public green space0.7 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
7out of
100
100
A park within a walk60%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
21out of
100
100
National Park or National Landscape8%of the land within 5 km
70out of
100
100
Footpaths1.8 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
24out of
100
100
The sea18%of the area within 5 km
89out 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.
Towns its size
Ulverston is 43rd of 60 UK towns its size for the outdoors
The 60 UK towns and cities of 10,600 to 11,800 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
Ulverston1.8
Towns its size3.0
Cumbria towns2.1
All UK towns3.0
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Ulverston0.7
Towns its size1.8
Cumbria towns2.0
All UK towns2.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Ulverston60%
Towns its size80%
Cumbria towns84%
All UK towns83%
Ulverston falls furthest behind on park space per resident, where 55 of the 59 others do better.
Show as a table
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Minehead Somerset | A+ | 1.4 | 95% | 4.3 | 47% |
| 2 | Weybourne Surrey | A+ | 7.1 | 86% | 6.1 | 14% |
| 3 | West End Hampshire | A | 9.1 | 100% | 6.1 | 0% |
| 4 | Holyhead Gwynedd | A | 3.4 | 78% | 2.3 | 31% |
| 5 | Brierfield Lancashire | A | 2.1 | 92% | 5.6 | 18% |
| 6 | Penryn Cornwall | A | 1.9 | 91% | 2.6 | 31% |
| 7 | Emsworth Hampshire | A | 2.3 | 56% | 3.7 | 51% |
| 8 | Sandown Isle of Wight | A | 1.4 | 74% | 4.5 | 28% |
| 9 | Great Harwood Lancashire | A | 2.2 | 97% | 4.3 | 4% |
| 10 | Bradwell Norfolk | A− | 2 | 80% | 2.7 | 31% |
| 11 | Conisbrough South Yorkshire | A− | 5.3 | 99% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 12 | Royston South Yorkshire | A− | 7.9 | 97% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 13 | Romiley Greater Manchester | A− | 3.9 | 80% | 3.8 | 1% |
| 14 | Southwater West Sussex | A− | 3.4 | 82% | 3.7 | 3% |
| 15 | Uppermill Greater Manchester | A− | 2.4 | 70% | 4.8 | 27% |
| 16 | Kearsley Greater Manchester | A− | 3.4 | 91% | 4.2 | 0% |
| 17 | Cleckheaton West Yorkshire | B+ | 3.3 | 98% | 3.7 | 0% |
| 18 | Tidworth Wiltshire | B+ | 3.7 | 90% | 2.3 | 8% |
| 19 | Ross-on-Wye Herefordshire | B+ | 1.9 | 76% | 3.4 | 56% |
| 20 | Barnoldswick Lancashire | B+ | 1.8 | 87% | 4 | 2% |
| 21 | South Elmsall West Yorkshire | B+ | 9 | 92% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 22 | Oxted Surrey | B | 2.1 | 84% | 2.8 | 28% |
| 23 | Buckhurst Hill Essex | B | 4.5 | 64% | 6.3 | 0% |
| 24 | Corsham Wiltshire | B | 1.9 | 81% | 3 | 31% |
| 25 | Warmsworth South Yorkshire | B | 2.7 | 79% | 4.7 | 0% |
| 26 | Gillingham Dorset | B | 1.9 | 91% | 2.6 | 3% |
| 27 | Shirebrook Derbyshire | B | 1.8 | 100% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 28 | Sandbach Cheshire | B− | 2.5 | 87% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 29 | Helston Cornwall | B− | 1.3 | 61% | 2.7 | 21% |
| 30 | Mossley Greater Manchester | B− | 0.9 | 74% | 4.5 | 14% |
| 31 | Oswaldtwistle Lancashire | B− | 1.1 | 94% | 4.6 | 0% |
| 32 | Lymm Cheshire | B− | 3.6 | 89% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 33 | Leatherhead Surrey | B− | 1 | 72% | 3.9 | 24% |
| 34 | Filton Gloucestershire | B− | 3.3 | 40% | 4.8 | 0% |
| 35 | Cambourne Cambridgeshire | B− | 0.7 | 91% | 7.1 | 0% |
| 36 | Liskeard Cornwall | C+ | 0.8 | 89% | 2.7 | 6% |
| 37 | Bolsover Derbyshire | C+ | 1.9 | 85% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 38 | Stanwell Surrey | C+ | 1.4 | 93% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 39 | Selsey West Sussex | C | 1.6 | 79% | 1.4 | 0% |
| 40 | Earl Shilton Leicestershire | C | 1.5 | 98% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 41 | Sandy Bedfordshire | C | 0.9 | 76% | 5.4 | 0% |
| 42 | Brimington Derbyshire | C | 1.2 | 72% | 4.5 | 0% |
| 43 | Ulverston Cumbria | C | 0.7 | 60% | 1.8 | 8% |
| 44 | Towcester Northamptonshire | C | 1.3 | 77% | 3.6 | 0% |
| 45 | Featherstone West Yorkshire | C | 2 | 77% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 46 | Epping Essex | C− | 1.2 | 70% | 3.7 | 0% |
| 47 | Attleborough Norfolk | C− | 1.8 | 93% | 1.4 | 0% |
| 48 | Hexham Northumberland | C− | 1.5 | 64% | 2 | 9% |
| 49 | Cleveleys Lancashire | C− | 0.8 | 71% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 50 | Downham Market Norfolk | C− | 1.5 | 77% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 51 | Chatteris Cambridgeshire | C− | 1.4 | 94% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 52 | Cheadle Staffordshire | C− | 1.7 | 90% | 1.4 | 0% |
| 53 | Dinnington South Yorkshire | C− | 1.1 | 81% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 54 | New Ollerton and Ollerton Nottinghamshire | C− | 0.8 | 80% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 55 | Leominster Herefordshire | C− | 1.1 | 72% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 56 | Newtown Powys | D | 2.3 | 65% | 1.6 | 0% |
| 57 | Longton Lancashire | D | 1.7 | 60% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 58 | Wetherby West Yorkshire | D | 0.5 | 14% | 3 | 0% |
| 59 | Tonyrefail Mid Glamorgan | D− | 0.7 | 48% | 1.1 | 0% |
| 60 | Watton Norfolk | D− | 0.5 | 28% | 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 Ulverston’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 Ulverston
The biggest is Ford Park, 3.2 ha (8 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
Lightburn Park
Playing field
1.9 ha (5 acres)0.9 km of path
10 minto walk all 0.9 km of path
3 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
Centralin the middle of Ulverston
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Pound Playground
Play space
0.1 ha (0 acres)
0.6 mi north-westfrom the centre
Playground 1 listed
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Close to home
6 in 10 Ulverston 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 (60%)Further (40%)
Ulverston60%
Towns its size80%
Cumbria towns84%
All UK towns83%
About 4,500 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 14 playgrounds are mapped in and around the town, about one for every 801 residents.
National Parks & National Landscapes
Lake District and Arnside & Silverdale both start about 6 miles from Ulverston
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
National Park
Lake District
1.1 mi north-east2,362 km²since 19518% of the land within 5 km
Official site8% of the land within 5 km of Ulverston is National Park or National Landscape, more than 69% of UK towns. Lake District National Park covers 2,362 km² and has been a National Park since 1951.
Footpaths & waymarked walks
Ulverston is on the King Charles III English Coast Path
47 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Ulverston and the kilometre around it, 1.8 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0). Bars show each route’s kilometres within 2 km of the town.
NationalRegional
King Charles III English Coast Path: Furness Peninsular8.8 km
Cumbria Coastal Way8.4 km
Westmorland and Furness Way: Stage 6 (The Abbey Trail)7.0 km
Westmorland and Furness Way: Stage 5 (Low Furness Fells)3.3 km
Cumbria Way3.3 km
The King Charles III English Coast Path, a national route, passes Ulverston. 4 regional routes pass through, including the Cumbria Coastal Way, Westmorland and Furness Way: Stage 6 (The Abbey Trail), Westmorland and Furness Way: Stage 5 (Low Furness Fells) and 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 Ulverston: May to September
The town’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) | 7.9 | 9.7 | 11.7 | 14.0 | 16.0 | 17.1 | 16.7 | 14.9 | 12.6 | 10.4 | 8.4 | 7.4 |
| High (°C) | 7 | 8 | 10 | 13 | 16 | 18 | 20 | 20 | 17 | 14 | 10 | 7 |
| Rain (mm) | 120 | 94 | 86 | 68 | 72 | 84 | 103 | 116 | 113 | 142 | 142 | 140 |
April is the driest month (68 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 20 °C). Winter days are short, about 7 hours of daylight in December, and 142 mm of rain falls in November, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 42 nights a year. The climate in Ulverston →
The coast
The coast and beaches near Ulverston
18% of the area within 5 km of Ulverston is sea.
The King Charles III English Coast Path passes the town.
Sea: the area outside the ONS coastline (mean high water). Bathing water quality is published by the Environment Agency (England) and Natural Resources Wales; check it before swimming.
Things to do
14 playgrounds
Mapped within 2 km of the town in OpenStreetMap, against the typical UK town its size per resident. Named places are listed with directions; unnamed ones are only counted.
1Viewpoints7Hills and peaks1Nature reserves2Picnic sites14Playgroundsabout the same as towns its size1Campsites
Every named place, with directions
Viewpoints 1
Hoad Hill0.1 mi from town
DirectionsHills and peaks 7
Flan Hill0.3 mi from town
DirectionsGamswell Hill0.6 mi from town
DirectionsHorrace Hill1.1 mi from town
DirectionsKnottallow Hill1.1 mi from town
DirectionsCopse Hill1.1 mi from town
DirectionsGreat Oath Hill1.2 mi from town
DirectionsPlus 1 peak without a name on the map.
Nature reserves 1
Next Ness2.5 ha · 0.1 mi from town
DirectionsPicnic sites 2
Plus 2 picnic sites without a name on the map.
Campsites 1
Urswick Campsite0.9 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.
SwarthmoorDalton-in-FurnessAskam in FurnessAllithwaiteGrange-over-SandsMillomUlverston
ABCDOutdoors Grade
| Town | Outdoors | Green space, ha per 1,000 | Near a park | Protected within 5 km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ulverston | C | 0.7 | 60% | 8% |
| Swarthmoor 1.1 mi | C− | 0.2 | 79% | 0% |
| Dalton-in-Furness 4.4 mi | C | 0.9 | 74% | 0% |
| Askam in Furness 4.6 mi | B− | 1.7 | 90% | 0% |
| Allithwaite 6.1 mi | C+ | 1.9 | 60% | 17% |
| Grange-over-Sands 7.1 mi | B | 1.5 | 46% | 40% |
| Millom 7.3 mi | A | 2.0 | 82% | 13% |
Millom, 7.3 miles away, grades A, the best next door: 82% of its residents live within 400 m of a park. Askam in Furness, Allithwaite and Grange-over-Sands have at least twice Ulverston’s green space per resident.
Questions about the outdoors in Ulverston
What is the biggest park in Ulverston?
Ford Park, 3.2 ha (8 acres), with 0.6 km of path. Lightburn Park (1.9 ha) is second. 3 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the town or within 400 m of it.
Is Ulverston near a National Park?
Yes. Lake District National Park begins 1.1 mi north-east of the town’s edge. It covers 2,362 km² and has been a National Park since 1951.
What are the best walks near Ulverston?
5 waymarked walking routes pass within 2 km of the town, including the King Charles III English Coast Path: Furness Peninsular, Cumbria Coastal Way and Westmorland and Furness Way: Stage 6 (The Abbey Trail).
How many people in Ulverston live near a park?
60% 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 Ulverston?
May to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Is Ulverston good for walking?
Paths are thinner than most towns: 1.8 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 24% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 7% (0.7 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 Ulverston’s overall grade.
Sources
Where Ulverston’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.