Whitwick’s biggest
Hermitage Recreation Ground
Playing field
14 ha (34 acres)2.0 km of path
25 minto walk all 2 km of path
19 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
0.4 mi southfrom the centre
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: Kev747 at English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0A−Outdoors Grade
Outdoors in Whitwick · parks, paths & countryside
Whitwick has more footpath per square kilometre than 9 in 10 UK towns
99 km of footpaths run through the town and the kilometre around it, 5.5 for every square kilometre. Parks and playing fields in Whitwick add up to 4.2 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. A park or playing field is within a 5-minute walk for 84% of residents. Whitwick grades A− for the outdoors: #7 of 50 in Leicestershire. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Green space
4.2 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical UK town 2.1
Near a park
84%
of residents within 400 m
Typical UK town 83%
Footpaths
99 km
5.5 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical UK town 3.0 per km²
Protected landscape
0%
of the land within 5 km
Character
What kind of outdoors town is Whitwick?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
A town of footpaths5.5 km of path per km², more than 95% of UK towns. The typical town has 3.0.Room to roam4.2 ha of parks and playing fields per 1,000 residents, more than 83% of UK towns.
Whitwick’s strongest suit is dense footpaths, followed by plenty of park space.
Outdoors grade
Whitwick grades A− for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Whitwick, 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 78% of UK towns#7 of 50 in Leicestershire · 14th of 60 UK towns its size
Public green space4.2 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
83out of
100
100
A park within a walk84%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
54out of
100
100
National Park or National Landscape0%of the land within 5 km · None within 5 km
31out of
100
100
Footpaths5.5 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
96out 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
Whitwick is 14th of 60 UK towns its size for the outdoors
The 60 UK towns and cities of 9,800 to 11,100 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
Whitwick5.5
Towns its size3.1
Leicestershire towns2.6
All UK towns3.0
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Whitwick4.2
Towns its size1.9
Leicestershire towns2.3
All UK towns2.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Whitwick84%
Towns its size81%
Leicestershire towns86%
All UK towns83%
Against towns its size, Whitwick stands out most for park space per resident: only 7 of the other 59 have more.
Show as a table
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West End Hampshire | A | 9.1 | 100% | 6.1 | 0% |
| 2 | Brierfield Lancashire | A | 2.1 | 92% | 5.6 | 18% |
| 3 | South Merstham Surrey | A | 3.7 | 84% | 3.7 | 20% |
| 4 | Great Harwood Lancashire | A | 2.2 | 97% | 4.3 | 4% |
| 5 | Godalming Surrey | A− | 4.6 | 73% | 3.1 | 66% |
| 6 | Soham Cambridgeshire | A− | 4.7 | 97% | 4.1 | 0% |
| 7 | Platt Bridge and Abram Greater Manchester | A− | 3.7 | 98% | 4.3 | 0% |
| 8 | Royston South Yorkshire | A− | 7.9 | 97% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 9 | Kings Hill Kent | A− | 2.4 | 100% | 2.8 | 7% |
| 10 | Romiley Greater Manchester | A− | 3.9 | 80% | 3.8 | 1% |
| 11 | Padiham Lancashire | A− | 1.5 | 95% | 4.5 | 18% |
| 12 | Bingham Nottinghamshire | A− | 3.4 | 100% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 13 | Sawbridgeworth Hertfordshire | A− | 4 | 85% | 5.4 | 0% |
| 14 | Whitwick Leicestershire | A− | 4.2 | 84% | 5.5 | 0% |
| 15 | Chadwell St Mary Essex | A− | 3.2 | 97% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 16 | Egglescliffe County Durham | A− | 4.9 | 94% | 3.6 | 0% |
| 17 | Tidworth Wiltshire | B+ | 3.7 | 90% | 2.3 | 8% |
| 18 | Pelsall West Midlands | B+ | 6.1 | 95% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 19 | Corfe Mullen Dorset | B+ | 3.1 | 72% | 3.5 | 13% |
| 20 | Ross-on-Wye Herefordshire | B+ | 1.9 | 76% | 3.4 | 56% |
| 21 | Woodbridge Suffolk | B+ | 1.7 | 80% | 3.9 | 30% |
| 22 | Barnoldswick Lancashire | B+ | 1.8 | 87% | 4 | 2% |
| 23 | Cranleigh Surrey | B | 2.5 | 20% | 4.3 | 38% |
| 24 | Corsham Wiltshire | B | 1.9 | 81% | 3 | 31% |
| 25 | Baldock Hertfordshire | B | 2.1 | 91% | 4.3 | 0% |
| 26 | Ludlow Shropshire | B | 2.3 | 92% | 2.1 | 16% |
| 27 | Great Dunmow Essex | B | 2 | 92% | 4 | 0% |
| 28 | Gillingham Dorset | B | 1.9 | 91% | 2.6 | 3% |
| 29 | Monmouth Gwent | B− | 1.5 | 69% | 3.1 | 45% |
| 30 | Oswaldtwistle Lancashire | B− | 1.1 | 94% | 4.6 | 0% |
| 31 | Radstock Somerset | B− | 1.1 | 93% | 2.9 | 1% |
| 32 | Filton Gloucestershire | B− | 3.3 | 40% | 4.8 | 0% |
| 33 | Cambourne Cambridgeshire | B− | 0.7 | 91% | 7.1 | 0% |
| 34 | Mold Clwyd | C+ | 1.9 | 86% | 1.6 | 17% |
| 35 | Baglan West Glamorgan | C+ | 2.5 | 69% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 36 | Liskeard Cornwall | C+ | 0.8 | 89% | 2.7 | 6% |
| 37 | Raunds Northamptonshire | C+ | 4.7 | 74% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 38 | Abertillery Gwent | C | 2.4 | 69% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 39 | Selsey West Sussex | C | 1.6 | 79% | 1.4 | 0% |
| 40 | Earl Shilton Leicestershire | C | 1.5 | 98% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 41 | Barnham West Sussex | C | 1.3 | 70% | 2.3 | 32% |
| 42 | Kippax West Yorkshire | C | 1.4 | 80% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 43 | Brimington Derbyshire | C | 1.2 | 72% | 4.5 | 0% |
| 44 | Catshill Worcestershire | C | 1.4 | 82% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 45 | Prudhoe Northumberland | C− | 1.7 | 37% | 4.1 | 0% |
| 46 | Epping Essex | C− | 1.2 | 70% | 3.7 | 0% |
| 47 | Hexham Northumberland | C− | 1.5 | 64% | 2 | 9% |
| 48 | Chatteris Cambridgeshire | C− | 1.4 | 94% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 49 | Polegate East Sussex | C− | 0.8 | 64% | 2.2 | 24% |
| 50 | Lutterworth Leicestershire | C− | 1.7 | 83% | 2 | 0% |
| 51 | West Moors Dorset | C− | 0.9 | 33% | 3.1 | 0% |
| 52 | New Ollerton and Ollerton Nottinghamshire | C− | 0.8 | 80% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 53 | Dinnington South Yorkshire | C− | 1.1 | 81% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 54 | Haxby North Yorkshire | D | 0.6 | 59% | 3.6 | 0% |
| 55 | Newtown Powys | D | 2.3 | 65% | 1.6 | 0% |
| 56 | Sherborne Dorset | D | 1.2 | 76% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 57 | Longton Lancashire | D | 1.7 | 60% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 58 | Burton Latimer Northamptonshire | D | 0.9 | 62% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 59 | Pocklington East Riding of Yorkshire | D | 1.6 | 65% | 1.3 | 0% |
| 60 | Ponteland Northumberland | D− | 1.1 | 36% | 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 Whitwick’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 Whitwick
The biggest is Hermitage Recreation Ground, 14 ha (34 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
Hermitage Recreation Ground
Playing field
14 ha (34 acres)2.0 km of path
25 minto walk all 2 km of path
19 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
0.4 mi southfrom the centre
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Close to home
8 in 10 Whitwick 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 (84%)Further (16%)
Whitwick84%
Towns its size81%
Leicestershire towns86%
All UK towns83%
About 1,700 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 36 playgrounds are mapped in and around the town, about one for every 290 residents.
Footpaths & waymarked walks
1 waymarked walk passes through or near Whitwick
99 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Whitwick and the kilometre around it, 5.5 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
Ivanhoe Way12.0 km
The regional route here is the Ivanhoe 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 Whitwick: 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) | 8.1 | 9.8 | 11.7 | 13.9 | 15.8 | 16.8 | 16.4 | 14.7 | 12.6 | 10.5 | 8.6 | 7.6 |
| High (°C) | 7 | 8 | 10 | 13 | 16 | 19 | 21 | 21 | 18 | 14 | 10 | 7 |
| Rain (mm) | 60 | 50 | 48 | 52 | 55 | 70 | 69 | 65 | 59 | 73 | 69 | 69 |
March is the driest month (48 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 21 °C). Winter days are short, about 8 hours of daylight in December, and 73 mm of rain falls in October, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 48 nights a year. The climate in Whitwick →
Things to do
36 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
Whitwick is inland. These are the nearest named beaches, measured from the edge of the town.
library15 mi from Whitwick’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
Nature reserves 1
Charnwood Lodge National Nature Reserve148 ha · 1.2 mi from town
DirectionsPlaygrounds 36
Plus 36 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.
CoalvilleHugglescoteRavenstoneEllistownShepshedIbstockWhitwick
ABCDOutdoors Grade
| Town | Outdoors | Green space, ha per 1,000 | Near a park | Protected within 5 km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whitwick | A− | 4.2 | 84% | 0% |
| Coalville 1.4 mi | A− | 3.7 | 94% | 0% |
| Hugglescote 2.2 mi | B+ | 4.2 | 91% | 0% |
| Ravenstone 2.4 mi | A− | 5.3 | 100% | 0% |
| Ellistown 3.1 mi | A | 7.5 | 100% | 0% |
| Shepshed 3.3 mi | D | 1.1 | 69% | 0% |
| Ibstock 4.0 mi | A | 8.5 | 96% | 0% |
Ellistown, 3.1 miles away, grades A, the best next door: every resident lives within 400 m of a park. None of the neighbours has a protected landscape within 5 km either.
Questions about the outdoors in Whitwick
What is the biggest park in Whitwick?
Hermitage Recreation Ground, 14 ha (34 acres), with 2 km of path. Hermitage Recreation Ground (14 ha) is second. 2 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the town or within 400 m of it.
Is Whitwick near a National Park?
No National Park or National Landscape is within 30 km (about 19 miles) of Whitwick.
What are the best walks near Whitwick?
1 waymarked walking route passes within 2 km of the town, including the Ivanhoe Way.
What is the nearest beach to Whitwick?
library, 15 mi from the edge of the town. Whitwick itself is inland.
How many people in Whitwick live near a park?
84% 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 Whitwick?
May to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Is Whitwick good for walking?
For paths, yes: 5.5 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 96% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 83% (4.2 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 Whitwick’s overall grade.
Sources
Where Whitwick’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.