Whiteley’s biggest
Yew Tree Woodland Park
Park or garden
1.1 ha (3 acres)0.4 km of path
Centralin the middle of Whiteley
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: Barry Shimmon · CC BY-SA 2.0A−Outdoors Grade
Outdoors in Whiteley · parks, paths & countryside
Whiteley has more footpath per square kilometre than nearly 9 in 10 UK towns
116 km of footpaths run through the town and the kilometre around it, 4.4 for every square kilometre. The South Downs National Park begins 2.1 mi from the town’s edge. A park or playing field is within a 5-minute walk for 52% of residents. Whiteley grades A− for the outdoors: #33 of 76 in Hampshire. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Green space
3.0 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical UK town 2.1
Near a park
52%
of residents within 400 m
Typical UK town 83%
Footpaths
116 km
4.4 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical UK town 3.0 per km²
Protected landscape
2%
of the land within 5 km
Nearest: South Downs National Park
The sea
6%
of the area within 5 km
Character
What kind of outdoors town is Whiteley?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
A town of footpaths4.4 km of path per km², more than 86% of UK towns. The typical town has 3.0.Countryside both waysSouth Downs starts 2.1 mi east, New Forest 3.9 mi south-west.Parks can be a walk away48% of residents live more than 400 m from a park or playing field.
Whiteley’s strongest suit is dense footpaths, followed by two protected landscapes close by. Where it falls short is how far some homes are from a park.
Outdoors grade
Whiteley grades A− for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Whiteley, the dashed line the typical town. The number is the share of towns it beats; the five are averaged and the average ranked again.
A−
Better than 84% of UK towns#33 of 76 in Hampshire · 11th of 60 UK towns its size
Public green space3.0 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
69out of
100
100
A park within a walk52%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
15out of
100
100
National Park or National Landscape2%of the land within 5 km
65out of
100
100
Footpaths4.4 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
87out of
100
100
The sea6%of the area within 5 km
84out 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
Whiteley is 11th of 60 UK towns its size for the outdoors
The 60 UK towns and cities of 8,900 to 9,800 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
Whiteley4.4
Towns its size3.3
Hampshire towns3.3
All UK towns3.0
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Whiteley3.0
Towns its size2.5
Hampshire towns2.8
All UK towns2.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Whiteley52%
Towns its size85%
Hampshire towns80%
All UK towns83%
Against towns its size, Whiteley stands out most for path per km²: only 9 of the other 59 have more. It falls furthest behind on homes near a park, where 55 of the others do better.
Show as a table
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Swanage Dorset | A+ | 6.9 | 95% | 4.2 | 47% |
| 2 | Brynteg Clwyd | A | 8.5 | 100% | 2.8 | 7% |
| 3 | Ilfracombe Devon | A | 2 | 86% | 3 | 28% |
| 4 | Bordon Hampshire | A | 8.6 | 54% | 6.7 | 49% |
| 5 | Killamarsh Derbyshire | A | 10.6 | 97% | 5.5 | 0% |
| 6 | Linthwaite and Slaithwaite West Yorkshire | A | 2.2 | 97% | 4.8 | 12% |
| 7 | New Mills Derbyshire | A | 2.4 | 84% | 5.1 | 34% |
| 8 | Nuthall and Watnall Nottinghamshire | A | 6.3 | 97% | 4.3 | 0% |
| 9 | Greasby Merseyside | A | 5.9 | 74% | 3.6 | 0% |
| 10 | Southborough Kent | A− | 2.8 | 94% | 2.5 | 57% |
| 11 | Whiteley Hampshire | A− | 3 | 52% | 4.4 | 2% |
| 12 | Thurmaston Leicestershire | A− | 10.4 | 89% | 4.2 | 0% |
| 13 | Hetton-le-Hole Tyne and Wear | A− | 7.8 | 95% | 3.7 | 0% |
| 14 | Esher Surrey | A− | 6.9 | 86% | 4.8 | 0% |
| 15 | Shelf and Northowram West Yorkshire | A− | 5.3 | 88% | 4.7 | 0% |
| 16 | Billingshurst West Sussex | A− | 2.9 | 95% | 3.1 | 3% |
| 17 | Thurnscoe South Yorkshire | A− | 9.4 | 100% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 18 | Shaftesbury Dorset | A− | 2.8 | 92% | 2.3 | 44% |
| 19 | Aveley Essex | A− | 3.4 | 84% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 20 | Shanklin Isle of Wight | A− | 1.4 | 33% | 4.5 | 29% |
| 21 | Irthlingborough Northamptonshire | A− | 4.7 | 94% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 22 | Yarm North Yorkshire | A− | 3.3 | 96% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 23 | Frodsham Cheshire | B+ | 2.5 | 67% | 4.4 | 0% |
| 24 | Sandiacre Derbyshire | B+ | 2.6 | 94% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 25 | Hayle Cornwall | B+ | 1.4 | 72% | 3.4 | 6% |
| 26 | Banstead Surrey | B+ | 2.4 | 66% | 5.2 | 3% |
| 27 | Pontllanfraith Gwent | B | 3.7 | 93% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 28 | Shildon County Durham | B | 2.8 | 93% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 29 | Hemsworth West Yorkshire | B | 3.6 | 100% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 30 | Gatley Greater Manchester | B | 5.7 | 66% | 4.2 | 0% |
| 31 | North Wingfield and Holmewood Derbyshire | B | 2.7 | 84% | 4.1 | 0% |
| 32 | Queensbury West Yorkshire | B | 2.6 | 91% | 3.2 | 0% |
| 33 | Tiptree Essex | B | 2.7 | 90% | 3.2 | 0% |
| 34 | Immingham Lincolnshire | B | 2 | 100% | 1.1 | 0% |
| 35 | Perton Staffordshire | B | 2.4 | 93% | 3 | 0% |
| 36 | Yaxley Cambridgeshire | B− | 2.6 | 90% | 3.1 | 0% |
| 37 | Pembroke Dock Dyfed | B− | 1.7 | 80% | 1.1 | 25% |
| 38 | Mildenhall Suffolk | B− | 2.1 | 91% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 39 | Knottingley West Yorkshire | B− | 2.7 | 88% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 40 | Hook Hampshire | B− | 2.4 | 80% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 41 | Caister-on-Sea Norfolk | C+ | 1.1 | 58% | 2.1 | 21% |
| 42 | Wideopen Tyne and Wear | C+ | 2.1 | 75% | 4.2 | 0% |
| 43 | Okehampton Devon | C+ | 0.9 | 85% | 2.2 | 37% |
| 44 | Brandon County Durham | C+ | 2.2 | 72% | 3.6 | 0% |
| 45 | Crook County Durham | C+ | 1.5 | 85% | 3.5 | 0% |
| 46 | Lydney Gloucestershire | C+ | 2.1 | 52% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 47 | Barwell Leicestershire | C | 1.7 | 90% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 48 | Diss Norfolk | C | 1.5 | 80% | 3.5 | 0% |
| 49 | Milnrow Greater Manchester | C | 2.9 | 58% | 3 | 0% |
| 50 | Kinmel Bay Clwyd | C | 1.8 | 76% | 0.9 | 0% |
| 51 | Shepton Mallet Somerset | C | 1.2 | 70% | 2.8 | 1% |
| 52 | Totnes Devon | C | 0.4 | 65% | 3.3 | 11% |
| 53 | Pencoed Mid Glamorgan | C− | 2.8 | 52% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 54 | Sileby Leicestershire | C− | 1 | 80% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 55 | Shifnal Shropshire | D | 1 | 89% | 1.6 | 0% |
| 56 | Broughton Astley Leicestershire | D | 1 | 82% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 57 | Brandon Suffolk | D | 0.8 | 39% | 3.5 | 0% |
| 58 | Littleport Cambridgeshire | D | 1 | 71% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 59 | Pheasey West Midlands | D− | 0.9 | 40% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 60 | Kirkham Lancashire | D− | 1.3 | 66% | 1.3 | 0% |
The map
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Whiteley’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 Whiteley
The biggest is Yew Tree Woodland Park, 1.1 ha (3 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
Whiteley Gardens
Park or garden
0.7 ha (2 acres)0.2 km of path
0.6 mi north-eastfrom the centre
2 playgrounds
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Close to home
5 in 10 Whiteley 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 (52%)Further (48%)
Whiteley52%
Towns its size85%
Hampshire towns80%
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; 66 playgrounds are mapped in and around the town, about one for every 142 residents.
National Parks & National Landscapes
South Downs and New Forest both start about 4 miles from Whiteley
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
2% of the land within 5 km of Whiteley is National Park or National Landscape, more than 64% of UK towns. South Downs National Park covers 1,653 km² and has been a National Park since 2010.
Footpaths & waymarked walks
1 waymarked walk passes through or near Whiteley
116 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Whiteley and the kilometre around it, 4.4 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0). Bars show each route’s kilometres within 2 km of the town.
Local
Strawberry Trail7.0 km
Close to home, the Strawberry Trail has 7 km of local walk within 2 km of the town.
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 Whiteley: 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) | 8.4 | 9.9 | 11.7 | 13.8 | 15.5 | 16.5 | 16.1 | 14.5 | 12.5 | 10.6 | 8.8 | 8.0 |
| High (°C) | 9 | 9 | 12 | 15 | 18 | 21 | 23 | 22 | 20 | 16 | 12 | 9 |
| Rain (mm) | 91 | 66 | 53 | 56 | 50 | 59 | 51 | 69 | 67 | 91 | 105 | 93 |
May is the driest month (50 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 23 °C). Winter days are short, about 8 hours of daylight in December, and 105 mm of rain falls in November, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 31 nights a year. The climate in Whiteley →
The coast
Whiteley is near the sea
6% of the area within 5 km of Whiteley is sea. 11 beaches are mapped within 5 km, 1 with a name.
Hill Head Beach3.1 mi from town
DirectionsSea: 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
2 viewpoints and 66 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.
2Viewpoints4Hills and peaks2Waterfalls4Nature reserves4× towns its size8Picnic sites66Playgrounds3.6× towns its size2Campsites1Slipways
Every named place, with directions
Viewpoints 2
Plus 2 viewpoints without a name on the map.
Hills and peaks 4
Sager's Down51 m (167 ft) · 0.8 mi from town
DirectionsHill Top41 m (135 ft) · 0.9 mi from town
DirectionsFiddlers Green50 m (164 ft) · 1.1 mi from town
DirectionsPlus 1 peak without a name on the map.
Waterfalls 2
Plus 2 waterfalls without a name on the map.
Nature reserves 4
Berry Coppice9.9 ha · in town
DirectionsMustang Avenue Nature Reserve1.9 ha · in town
DirectionsSwanwick Lakes0.1 mi from town
DirectionsHolly Hill Woodland Park Local Nature Reserve28 ha · 1.2 mi from town
DirectionsPicnic sites 8
Plus 8 picnic sites without a name on the map.
Playgrounds 66
Acanthus Court Playgroundin town
DirectionsCaraway play areain town
DirectionsCoriander Way play areain town
DirectionsFlagpond Road Playgroundin town
DirectionsGlassfield Road Playgroundin town
DirectionsGreenfinch Road Playgroundin town
DirectionsJasmine Court Playgroundin town
DirectionsKingswood Close Playgroundin town
DirectionsPlus 58 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Campsites 2
YMCA Fairthorne Manor0.8 mi from town
DirectionsPaulines Lodge Scout activity centre1.1 mi from town
DirectionsSlipways 1
Plus 1 slipway without a name on the map.
Next door
The outdoors in nearby towns
The nearest towns of 1,000+ within 12 miles. Tap a town for its outdoors page.
Locks HeathKnowleBursledonBotleyHedge EndWickhamWhiteley
ABCDOutdoors Grade
Locks Heath, 1.6 miles away, grades A+, the best next door: 91% of its residents live within 400 m of a park. Botley has at least twice Whiteley’s green space per resident.
Questions about the outdoors in Whiteley
What is the biggest park in Whiteley?
Yew Tree Woodland Park, 1.1 ha (3 acres). Whiteley Gardens (0.7 ha) is second. 2 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the town or within 400 m of it.
Is Whiteley near a National Park?
Yes. South Downs National Park begins 2.1 mi east of the town’s edge. It covers 1,653 km² and has been a National Park since 2010.
What are the best walks near Whiteley?
1 waymarked walking route passes within 2 km of the town, including the Strawberry Trail.
How many people in Whiteley live near a park?
52% 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 Whiteley?
May to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Is Whiteley good for walking?
For paths, yes: 4.4 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 87% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 69% (3.0 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 Whiteley’s overall grade.
Sources
Where Whiteley’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.