Nelson’s biggest
Marsden Park
Park or garden
12 ha (29 acres)2.8 km of path
40 minto walk all 2.8 km of path
16 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
0.6 mi eastfrom the centre
2 listed
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: Robert Wade · CC BY-SA 2.0A−Outdoors Grade
Outdoors in Nelson · parks, paths & countryside
Nelson has more footpath per square kilometre than 9 in 10 UK towns
100 km of footpaths run through the town and the kilometre around it, 5.2 for every square kilometre. The Forest Of Bowland National Landscape begins 0.8 mi from the town’s edge. Parks and playing fields in Nelson add up to 1.8 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. Nelson grades A− for the outdoors: #15 of 65 in Lancashire. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Green space
1.8 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical UK town 2.1
Near a park
85%
of residents within 400 m
Typical UK town 83%
Footpaths
100 km
5.2 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical UK town 3.0 per km²
Protected landscape
15%
of the land within 5 km
Nearest: Forest Of Bowland National Landscape
Character
What kind of outdoors town is Nelson?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
A town of footpaths5.2 km of path per km², more than 94% of UK towns. The typical town has 3.0.Countryside close byThe Forest Of Bowland National Landscape starts 0.8 mi north-west.Less park per person1.8 ha of parks and playing fields per 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1.
Nelson’s strongest suit is dense footpaths, followed by the Forest Of Bowland National Landscape close by. Where it falls short is park space per person.
Outdoors grade
Nelson grades A− for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Nelson, 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 77% of UK towns#15 of 65 in Lancashire · 16th of 60 UK towns its size
Public green space1.8 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
37out of
100
100
A park within a walk85%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
56out of
100
100
National Park or National Landscape15%of the land within 5 km
74out of
100
100
Footpaths5.2 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
94out 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
Nelson is 16th of 60 UK towns its size for the outdoors
The 60 UK towns and cities of 31,000 to 36,700 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
Nelson5.2
Towns its size3.9
Lancashire towns3.0
All UK towns3.0
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Nelson1.8
Towns its size2.2
Lancashire towns2.0
All UK towns2.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Nelson85%
Towns its size84%
Lancashire towns85%
All UK towns83%
Against towns its size, Nelson stands out most for path per km²: only 7 of the other 59 have more. It falls furthest behind on park space per resident, where 39 of the others do better.
Show as a table
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Locks Heath Hampshire | A+ | 3.5 | 91% | 3.7 | 4% |
| 2 | Great Malvern Worcestershire | A+ | 3.9 | 90% | 6 | 38% |
| 3 | Dover Kent | A+ | 3 | 86% | 2.9 | 29% |
| 4 | Hyde Greater Manchester | A | 4.3 | 91% | 3.9 | 1% |
| 5 | Epsom Surrey | A | 5.7 | 80% | 4.8 | 2% |
| 6 | Burgess Hill West Sussex | A | 2.4 | 87% | 5 | 27% |
| 7 | Skelmersdale Lancashire | A | 7.8 | 91% | 5.4 | 0% |
| 8 | Prestwich Greater Manchester | A | 9 | 94% | 4.1 | 0% |
| 9 | Redhill Surrey | A− | 2.2 | 91% | 4.3 | 14% |
| 10 | Rustington West Sussex | A− | 2.1 | 78% | 2.7 | 25% |
| 11 | Chandler's Ford Hampshire | A− | 2.7 | 80% | 5.3 | 6% |
| 12 | Dunstable Bedfordshire | A− | 2 | 78% | 8 | 29% |
| 13 | Caversham Berkshire | A− | 2.5 | 77% | 4.3 | 32% |
| 14 | Sutton in Ashfield Nottinghamshire | A− | 4.3 | 94% | 4 | 0% |
| 15 | Accrington Lancashire | A− | 2.6 | 79% | 5.6 | 0% |
| 16 | Nelson Lancashire | A− | 1.8 | 85% | 5.2 | 15% |
| 17 | St Neots Cambridgeshire | A− | 3.5 | 91% | 4.4 | 0% |
| 18 | Didcot Oxfordshire | A− | 1.6 | 88% | 3.8 | 39% |
| 19 | Exmouth Devon | A− | 1.4 | 82% | 2.6 | 21% |
| 20 | Waterlooville Hampshire | B+ | 1 | 66% | 5.2 | 18% |
| 21 | Chippenham Wiltshire | B+ | 2.8 | 76% | 3.9 | 7% |
| 22 | Fulwood Lancashire | B+ | 3.5 | 87% | 3.9 | 0% |
| 23 | Swadlincote Derbyshire | B+ | 4.1 | 84% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 24 | Chichester West Sussex | B+ | 1.6 | 89% | 3 | 40% |
| 25 | Lichfield Staffordshire | B+ | 2.7 | 82% | 3.1 | 2% |
| 26 | Brierley Hill West Midlands | B+ | 3.1 | 82% | 4.6 | 0% |
| 27 | Pudsey West Yorkshire | B+ | 1.9 | 94% | 5.1 | 0% |
| 28 | Hucknall Nottinghamshire | B+ | 3 | 87% | 4 | 0% |
| 29 | Hitchin Hertfordshire | B+ | 1.5 | 83% | 4.4 | 10% |
| 30 | West Bridgford Nottinghamshire | B+ | 2.2 | 86% | 7.7 | 0% |
| 31 | Windsor Berkshire | B | 5.5 | 83% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 32 | Brighouse West Yorkshire | B | 2.5 | 91% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 33 | Wigston Leicestershire | B | 2.9 | 88% | 3.6 | 0% |
| 34 | Billingham County Durham | B | 4.7 | 86% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 35 | Warwick Warwickshire | B | 3 | 85% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 36 | Denton Greater Manchester | B | 2.4 | 88% | 4.2 | 0% |
| 37 | Letchworth Hertfordshire | B | 2.2 | 85% | 4.8 | 0% |
| 38 | Loughton Essex | B | 2.9 | 74% | 5.5 | 0% |
| 39 | Abingdon-on-Thames Oxfordshire | B | 2.1 | 91% | 3.9 | 0% |
| 40 | Caerphilly Gwent | B | 2.6 | 82% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 41 | Morecambe Lancashire | B− | 0.8 | 84% | 2.2 | 2% |
| 42 | Radcliffe Greater Manchester | B− | 1.7 | 86% | 4.2 | 0% |
| 43 | Tonbridge Kent | B− | 2.1 | 65% | 2.6 | 38% |
| 44 | Whitstable Kent | B− | 1.5 | 84% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 45 | Billericay Essex | C+ | 4.1 | 70% | 3 | 0% |
| 46 | Winsford Cheshire | C+ | 1.3 | 92% | 3.9 | 0% |
| 47 | Pontefract West Yorkshire | C+ | 2.6 | 84% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 48 | New Haw, West Byfleet and Sheerwater Surrey | C+ | 2.2 | 69% | 4.1 | 0% |
| 49 | Morley West Yorkshire | C+ | 1.2 | 87% | 3.9 | 0% |
| 50 | Horndean Hampshire | C+ | 0.9 | 57% | 3.3 | 53% |
| 51 | Bedworth Warwickshire | C | 1.5 | 87% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 52 | Barnstaple Devon | C | 1.6 | 92% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 53 | Rayleigh Essex | C | 2 | 71% | 3.1 | 0% |
| 54 | Sedgley West Midlands | C | 1.5 | 65% | 4 | 0% |
| 55 | Bridlington East Riding of Yorkshire | C | 0.8 | 80% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 56 | Bilston West Midlands | C− | 1.5 | 76% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 57 | Rushden Northamptonshire | C− | 1.5 | 84% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 58 | Bromsgrove Worcestershire | C− | 1.4 | 75% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 59 | Port Talbot West Glamorgan | C− | 1.3 | 68% | 1.1 | 0% |
| 60 | Pontypridd Mid Glamorgan | D | 1.5 | 70% | 1.9 | 0% |
The map
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Nelson’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 Nelson
The biggest is Marsden Park, 12 ha (29 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
All 8 named parks by size: 39 ha (97 acres) and 9 km of path
Parks & gardens 33 haPlaying fields 6.1 ha
The two biggest, Marsden Park and Victoria Park, are 51% of the named green space and carry 6 km of path between them.
Victoria Park
Park or garden
8.4 ha (21 acres)3.2 km of path
40 minto walk all 3.2 km of path
12 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
0.7 mi westfrom the centre
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Walverden Park
Park or garden
6.6 ha (16 acres)2.1 km of path
25 minto walk all 2.1 km of path
9 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
Centralin the middle of Nelson
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Barrowford Park
Park or garden · 170 m outside town
4.5 ha (11 acres)0.7 km of path
10 minto walk all 0.7 km of path
6 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
1 mi northfrom the centre
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Lower Park Hill Recreation Ground
Playing field · 0 m outside town
4.1 ha (10 acres)
6 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
0.8 mi northfrom the centre
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Greenfield Nature Reserve
Park or garden · 370 m outside town
2.2 ha (5 acres)0.1 km of path
3 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
1.2 mi northfrom the centre
Nature reserve
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Seedhill
Playing field
2.0 ha (5 acres)
3 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
0.6 mi north-westfrom the centre
Directionsto the nearest entrance
The Garden Project
Park or garden
0.1 ha (0 acres)
Centralin the middle of Nelson
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Close to home
8 in 10 Nelson 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 (85%)Further (16%)
Nelson85%
Towns its size84%
Lancashire towns85%
All UK towns83%
About 5,000 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 32 playgrounds are mapped in and around the town, about one for every 1,057 residents.
National Parks & National Landscapes
The Forest Of Bowland National Landscape is 0.8 mi away
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
0.8 mi north-west806 km²since 196415% of the land within 5 km
Official site15% of the land within 5 km of Nelson is National Park or National Landscape, more than 74% of UK towns. Yorkshire Dales National Park covers 2,185 km² and has been a National Park since 1954.
Footpaths & waymarked walks
2 waymarked walks pass through or near Nelson
100 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Nelson and the kilometre around it, 5.2 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
Pendle Way12.7 km
Burnley Way2.8 km
2 regional routes pass through, including the Pendle Way and Burnley 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 Nelson: 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 | 13.9 | 15.9 | 17.1 | 16.6 | 14.8 | 12.6 | 10.4 | 8.4 | 7.4 |
| High (°C) | 6 | 7 | 9 | 12 | 15 | 18 | 20 | 19 | 17 | 13 | 9 | 7 |
| Rain (mm) | 113 | 98 | 87 | 66 | 68 | 82 | 90 | 103 | 99 | 116 | 118 | 135 |
April is the driest month (66 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 20 °C). Winter days are short, about 7 hours of daylight in December, and 135 mm of rain falls in December, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 43 nights a year. The climate in Nelson →
The coast
Beaches near Nelson
0% of the area within 5 km of Nelson is sea, so the Outdoors Grade counts it as inland. 1 beach is mapped within 5 km.
Treasure Beach1.2 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
32 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.
Every named place, with directions
Waterfalls 1
Plus 1 waterfall without a name on the map.
Nature reserves 2
Quarry Hill Nature Reserve6.4 ha · 0.0 mi from town
DirectionsGreenfield Road Local Nature Reserve1.9 ha · 0.3 mi from town
DirectionsPlaygrounds 32
Plus 32 playgrounds 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.
BarrowfordBrierfieldFenceColneTrawdenFoulridgeNelson
ABCDOutdoors Grade
| Town | Outdoors | Green space, ha per 1,000 | Near a park | Protected within 5 km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nelson | A− | 1.8 | 85% | 15% |
| Barrowford 1.0 mi | A | 4.2 | 82% | 22% |
| Brierfield 1.3 mi | A | 2.1 | 92% | 18% |
| Fence 2.0 mi | B | 1.3 | 62% | 32% |
| Colne 2.2 mi | A | 3.2 | 86% | 8% |
| Trawden 3.0 mi | B− | 4.0 | 0% | 0% |
| Foulridge 3.1 mi | A− | 9.4 | 23% | 4% |
Barrowford, 1 miles away, grades A, the best next door: 82% of its residents live within 400 m of a park. Barrowford, Trawden and Foulridge have at least twice Nelson’s green space per resident.
Questions about the outdoors in Nelson
What is the biggest park in Nelson?
Marsden Park, 12 ha (29 acres), with 2.8 km of path. Victoria Park (8.4 ha) is second. 8 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the town or within 400 m of it.
Is Nelson near a National Park?
Yes. Yorkshire Dales National Park begins 10 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, 0.8 mi away.
What are the best walks near Nelson?
2 waymarked walking routes pass within 2 km of the town, including the Pendle Way and Burnley Way. Marsden Park alone has 2.8 km of path.
How many people in Nelson live near a park?
85% 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 Nelson?
May to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Is Nelson good for walking?
For paths, yes: 5.2 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 94% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 37% (1.8 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 Nelson’s overall grade.
Sources
Where Nelson’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.