Caton’s biggest
Bull Beck Picnic Site
Park or garden · 10 m outside town
0.7 ha (2 acres)
0.5 mi north-eastfrom the centre
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: David Long · CC BY-SA 2.0C+Outdoors Grade
Outdoors in Caton · parks, paths & countryside
Caton is inside the Forest Of Bowland National Landscape
Parks and playing fields in Caton add up to 1.2 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. 23 km of footpaths run through the town and the kilometre around it, 2.2 for every square kilometre. Caton grades C+ for the outdoors: #47 of 65 in Lancashire. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Green space
1.2 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical UK town 2.1
Near a park
72%
of residents within 400 m
Typical UK town 83%
Footpaths
23 km
2.2 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical UK town 3.0 per km²
Protected landscape
67%
of the land within 5 km
Nearest: Forest Of Bowland National Landscape
Character
What kind of outdoors town is Caton?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
Inside the Forest Of Bowland National LandscapeCaton sits inside it: 806 km² of protected landscape.Less park per person1.2 ha of parks and playing fields per 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1.
Caton’s strongest suit is a protected landscape all round. Where it falls short is park space per person.
Outdoors grade
Caton grades C+ for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Caton, 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 36% of UK towns#47 of 65 in Lancashire · 35th of 60 UK towns its size
Public green space1.2 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
18out of
100
100
A park within a walk72%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
34out of
100
100
National Park or National Landscape67%of the land within 5 km
96out of
100
100
Footpaths2.2 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
37out 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.
Towns its size
Caton is 35th of 60 UK towns its size for the outdoors
The 60 UK towns and cities of 2,400 to 2,700 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
Caton2.2
Towns its size2.4
Lancashire towns3.0
All UK towns3.0
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Caton1.2
Towns its size2.4
Lancashire towns2.0
All UK towns2.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Caton72%
Towns its size86%
Lancashire towns85%
All UK towns83%
Caton falls furthest behind on park space per resident, where 48 of the 59 others do better.
Show as a table
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Petworth West Sussex | A+ | 29.6 | 100% | 4.1 | 93% |
| 2 | Tywardreath Cornwall | A+ | 4.6 | 100% | 2.5 | 26% |
| 3 | Shalford Surrey | A+ | 14.9 | 89% | 4.8 | 47% |
| 4 | Silloth Cumbria | A+ | 7.3 | 100% | 1.4 | 17% |
| 5 | Hopton on Sea Norfolk | A+ | 6.7 | 100% | 1.6 | 2% |
| 6 | Dolgellau Gwynedd | A | 3.6 | 100% | 1.9 | 100% |
| 7 | Binley Woods Warwickshire | A | 5.5 | 100% | 4.3 | 0% |
| 8 | Maple Cross Hertfordshire | A | 3.1 | 100% | 2.9 | 14% |
| 9 | Hawley Hampshire | A | 6.9 | 92% | 5.8 | 0% |
| 10 | Chopwell Tyne and Wear | A | 7.5 | 100% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 11 | Longford Gloucestershire | A | 11.9 | 100% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 12 | Darenth Kent | A− | 1.8 | 100% | 4.3 | 1% |
| 13 | Drybrook Gloucestershire | A− | 3.9 | 83% | 3.4 | 10% |
| 14 | South Anston South Yorkshire | A− | 3.5 | 100% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 15 | Stewartby Bedfordshire | A− | 21 | 100% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 16 | Saundersfoot Dyfed | A− | 10.2 | 69% | 0.9 | 19% |
| 17 | Langold Nottinghamshire | B+ | 13 | 100% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 18 | Porthmadog Gwynedd | B+ | 0.9 | 94% | 2 | 41% |
| 19 | Thornley County Durham | B+ | 3.2 | 100% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 20 | Witton Gilbert County Durham | B+ | 2.1 | 100% | 3.9 | 0% |
| 21 | Craven Arms Shropshire | B | 1.3 | 87% | 2.9 | 59% |
| 22 | Barlestone Leicestershire | B | 3 | 100% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 23 | Oakley Bedfordshire | B | 3.2 | 100% | 2 | 0% |
| 24 | Pannal North Yorkshire | B− | 3.7 | 77% | 3 | 0% |
| 25 | Coundon and Leeholme County Durham | B− | 4.4 | 100% | 1 | 0% |
| 26 | Brewood Staffordshire | B− | 3 | 100% | 1.6 | 0% |
| 27 | Seer Green Buckinghamshire | B− | 1.7 | 38% | 3.8 | 35% |
| 28 | Grimsargh Lancashire | B− | 2.6 | 67% | 2.8 | 2% |
| 29 | Ash Green Warwickshire | B− | 3.4 | 67% | 3.6 | 0% |
| 30 | Timsbury Somerset | B− | 2.7 | 68% | 4.1 | 0% |
| 31 | Bishop's Itchington Warwickshire | C+ | 1.5 | 100% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 32 | Shepley West Yorkshire | C+ | 1.6 | 87% | 3.5 | 0% |
| 33 | Widdrington Station Northumberland | C+ | 1 | 88% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 34 | Dunchurch Warwickshire | C+ | 7.8 | 68% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 35 | Caton Lancashire | C+ | 1.2 | 72% | 2.2 | 67% |
| 36 | Steeple Claydon Buckinghamshire | C+ | 1.5 | 100% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 37 | Stratton Gloucestershire | C | 0.7 | 46% | 3.3 | 70% |
| 38 | Heage Derbyshire | C | 1.9 | 78% | 3.1 | 0% |
| 39 | Watlington Norfolk | C | 2.3 | 100% | 0.6 | 0% |
| 40 | Llandybie Dyfed | C | 2.6 | 59% | 1.2 | 13% |
| 41 | Laleham Surrey | C | 9.8 | 34% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 42 | Marham Norfolk | C | 3.5 | 85% | 0.4 | 0% |
| 43 | Ash (Dover) Kent | C | 2.3 | 72% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 44 | Hatton Derbyshire | C− | 3.3 | 61% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 45 | Costessey Norfolk | C− | 1.8 | 12% | 3.5 | 0% |
| 46 | Loggerheads Staffordshire | C− | 1.2 | 86% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 47 | Cwm Gwent | C− | 2 | 12% | 3.1 | 0% |
| 48 | Cliffe Kent | C− | 1.1 | 55% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 49 | Probus Cornwall | C− | 0.6 | 75% | 1.5 | 15% |
| 50 | Lampeter Dyfed | D | 1.5 | 88% | 0.9 | 0% |
| 51 | Keele Staffordshire | D | 1.1 | 0% | 3.6 | 0% |
| 52 | Long Crendon Buckinghamshire | D | 1.4 | 86% | 0.8 | 0% |
| 53 | Fordham Cambridgeshire | D | 2.3 | 35% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 54 | Long Itchington Warwickshire | D | 2.1 | 45% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 55 | Clophill Bedfordshire | D | 0.7 | 41% | 3.1 | 0% |
| 56 | Silverstone Northamptonshire | D | 1.1 | 0% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 57 | Holme upon Spalding Moor East Riding of Yorkshire | D− | 1.5 | 41% | 0.8 | 0% |
| 58 | Nafferton East Riding of Yorkshire | D− | 1.3 | 56% | 0.6 | 0% |
| 59 | Rhos West Glamorgan | D− | 1 | 58% | 0.8 | 0% |
| 60 | Cranwell Lincolnshire | D− | 0.5 | 57% | 1.1 | 0% |
The map
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Caton’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 Caton
The biggest is Bull Beck Picnic Site, 0.7 ha (2 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
Close to home
7 in 10 Caton 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 (72%)Further (28%)
Caton72%
Towns its size86%
Lancashire towns85%
All UK towns83%
About 700 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 8 playgrounds are mapped in and around the town, about one for every 319 residents.
National Parks & National Landscapes
National Parks and National Landscapes around Caton
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 Landscape
Forest Of Bowland
Caton is inside it806 km²since 196467% of the land within 5 km
Official site67% of the land within 5 km of Caton is National Park or National Landscape, more than 95% of UK towns. Yorkshire Dales National Park covers 2,185 km² and has been a National Park since 1954.
Footpaths & waymarked walks
1 waymarked walk passes through or near Caton
23 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Caton and the kilometre around it, 2.2 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0). Bars show each route’s kilometres within 2 km of the town.
Regional
Lune Valley Ramble8.2 km
The regional route here is the Lune Valley Ramble.
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 Caton: 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 | 16.6 | 14.8 | 12.6 | 10.4 | 8.4 | 7.4 |
| High (°C) | 7 | 7 | 9 | 12 | 15 | 18 | 19 | 19 | 17 | 13 | 9 | 7 |
| Rain (mm) | 108 | 114 | 76 | 68 | 56 | 71 | 92 | 112 | 109 | 124 | 118 | 134 |
May is the driest month (56 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 19 °C). Winter days are short, about 7 hours of daylight in December, and 134 mm of rain falls in December, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 35 nights a year. The climate in Caton →
Things to do
8 playgrounds and the nearest beaches
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.
The nearest beaches
Caton is inland. These are the nearest named beaches, measured from the edge of the town.
Mallows Bay5.6 mi from Caton’s edge
DirectionsHalf Moon Bay7.5 mi from Caton’s edge
DirectionsTreasure Beach26 mi from Caton’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.
Up high. Halton Hill, at 107 m, is the highest named top within 2 km of Caton.
Every named place, with directions
Viewpoints 1
Gray's Seat0.3 mi from town
DirectionsHills and peaks 2
Halton Hill107 m (351 ft) · 0.5 mi from town
DirectionsPotts Hill1.2 mi from town
DirectionsPlaygrounds 8
Fell View Playparkin town
DirectionsHalton Natural Play Area1.1 mi from town
DirectionsPlus 6 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Campsites 1
New Parkside Farm Camp Site0.7 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.
HaltonBolton-le-SandsLancasterCarnforthWarton (Lancaster)BailriggCaton
ABCDOutdoors Grade
| Town | Outdoors | Green space, ha per 1,000 | Near a park | Protected within 5 km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Caton | C+ | 1.2 | 72% | 67% |
| Halton 1.8 mi | B− | 0.9 | 100% | 35% |
| Bolton-le-Sands 3.7 mi | C+ | 1.1 | 58% | 23% |
| Lancaster 4.0 mi | A+ | 2.4 | 96% | 22% |
| Carnforth 4.2 mi | A− | 1.2 | 89% | 39% |
| Warton (Lancaster) 5.3 mi | B− | 0.3 | 32% | 43% |
| Bailrigg 5.4 mi | C− | 0.0 | 0% | 18% |
Lancaster, 4 miles away, grades A+, the best next door: 96% of its residents live within 400 m of a park.
Questions about the outdoors in Caton
What is the biggest park in Caton?
Bull Beck Picnic Site, 0.7 ha (2 acres), just outside the built-up area. 1 named park, garden or playing field is in the town or within 400 m of it.
Is Caton near a National Park?
Yes. Yorkshire Dales National Park begins 9.0 mi north-east of the town’s edge. It covers 2,185 km² and has been a National Park since 1954. The nearest protected landscape of any kind is the Forest Of Bowland National Landscape, at the edge of the town.
What are the best walks near Caton?
1 waymarked walking route passes within 2 km of the town, including the Lune Valley Ramble.
What is the nearest beach to Caton?
Mallows Bay, 5.6 mi from the edge of the town, then Half Moon Bay (7.5 mi). Caton itself is inland.
How many people in Caton live near a park?
72% 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 Caton?
May to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Is Caton good for walking?
Paths are thinner than most towns: 2.2 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 37% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 18% (1.2 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 Caton’s overall grade.
Sources
Where Caton’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.