Whitby’s biggest
Calla Beck
Park or garden
5.6 ha (14 acres)0.8 km of path
10 minto walk all 0.8 km of path
8 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
Centralin the middle of Whitby
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: Richard West · CC BY-SA 2.0A+Outdoors Grade
Outdoors in Whitby · parks, paths & countryside
Whitby is on the coast, on the King Charles III England Coast Path
The sea makes up 39% of the area within 5 km. The North York Moors National Park reaches the edge of Whitby. Parks and playing fields in Whitby add up to 4.0 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. Whitby grades A+ for the outdoors: #1 of 54 in North Yorkshire. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Green space
4.0 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical UK town 2.1
Near a park
100%
of residents within 400 m
Typical UK town 83%
Footpaths
63 km
2.9 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical UK town 3.0 per km²
Protected landscape
53%
of the land within 5 km
Nearest: North York Moors National Park
The sea
39%
of the area within 5 km
A coastal town
Character
What kind of outdoors town is Whitby?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
On the coast39% of the area within 5 km is sea; 4 beaches mapped.A park on every doorstep100% of residents live within 400 m of a park or playing field.Hills with a view10 mapped viewpoints, about 10× as many per resident as the typical town its size.Protected countryside53% of the land within 5 km is North York Moors National Park.
Whitby’s strongest suit is the sea, followed by parks close to every home.
Outdoors grade
Whitby grades A+ for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Whitby, 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 almost every UK town#1 of 54 in North Yorkshire · 1st of 60 UK towns its size
Public green space4.0 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
81out of
100
100
A park within a walk100%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
89out of
100
100
National Park or National Landscape53%of the land within 5 km
92out of
100
100
Footpaths2.9 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
56out of
100
100
The sea39%of the area within 5 km
95out 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
Whitby is 1st of 60 UK towns its size for the outdoors
The 60 UK towns and cities of 11,900 to 13,300 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
Whitby2.9
Towns its size3.0
North Yorkshire towns2.0
All UK towns3.0
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Whitby4.0
Towns its size2.2
North Yorkshire towns1.7
All UK towns2.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Whitby100%
Towns its size83%
North Yorkshire towns80%
All UK towns83%
Against towns its size, Whitby 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 | Whitby North Yorkshire | A+ | 4 | 100% | 2.9 | 53% |
| 2 | Farncombe Surrey | A+ | 5.7 | 92% | 3.8 | 54% |
| 3 | Brockworth Gloucestershire | A+ | 2.5 | 95% | 5.1 | 46% |
| 4 | Newhaven East Sussex | A | 1.9 | 84% | 2.9 | 50% |
| 5 | Rhosllannerchrugog Clwyd | A | 3.5 | 98% | 2.8 | 31% |
| 6 | Southwick West Sussex | A | 1.1 | 100% | 2.6 | 34% |
| 7 | Houghton-le-Spring Tyne and Wear | A | 4.8 | 100% | 4.2 | 0% |
| 8 | Killingworth Tyne and Wear | A | 4.7 | 97% | 4.5 | 0% |
| 9 | Little Lever Greater Manchester | A | 4.5 | 97% | 4.5 | 0% |
| 10 | Wick West Sussex | A | 1.3 | 91% | 3 | 25% |
| 11 | Matlock Derbyshire | A− | 2.9 | 76% | 4.7 | 20% |
| 12 | Blackwood Gwent | A− | 3.6 | 97% | 4.4 | 0% |
| 13 | Bridport Dorset | A− | 0.9 | 75% | 3.7 | 71% |
| 14 | Flackwell Heath and Wooburn Green Buckinghamshire | A− | 1.7 | 90% | 3.9 | 30% |
| 15 | Guiseley West Yorkshire | A− | 2.5 | 75% | 5.7 | 6% |
| 16 | Wantage Oxfordshire | A− | 2.5 | 71% | 3.9 | 47% |
| 17 | Lees Greater Manchester | A− | 2.5 | 80% | 4.4 | 4% |
| 18 | Tavistock Devon | A− | 5.9 | 83% | 1.6 | 72% |
| 19 | Ivybridge Devon | B+ | 1.8 | 86% | 3.4 | 38% |
| 20 | Berwick-upon-Tweed Northumberland | B+ | 2.5 | 62% | 2.7 | 1% |
| 21 | Ringwood Hampshire | B+ | 2.3 | 78% | 3.2 | 43% |
| 22 | Chorleywood Hertfordshire | B+ | 2.7 | 37% | 5.7 | 22% |
| 23 | Poulton-le-Fylde Lancashire | B+ | 3.6 | 85% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 24 | Bentley South Yorkshire | B+ | 3.4 | 100% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 25 | Marple Greater Manchester | B+ | 3.4 | 64% | 3.8 | 5% |
| 26 | Poynton Cheshire | B+ | 2.2 | 79% | 3.7 | 14% |
| 27 | Royal Wootton Bassett Wiltshire | B+ | 1.6 | 98% | 3.1 | 10% |
| 28 | Cudworth and Shafton South Yorkshire | B | 3.1 | 88% | 3.7 | 0% |
| 29 | Littleborough Greater Manchester | B | 5 | 85% | 3 | 0% |
| 30 | Stotfold Bedfordshire | B | 2.1 | 96% | 3.5 | 0% |
| 31 | Enderby and Narborough Leicestershire | B | 1.9 | 89% | 4.4 | 0% |
| 32 | Rushall and Shelfield West Midlands | B | 4.3 | 88% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 33 | Honiton Devon | B− | 1.3 | 90% | 2 | 73% |
| 34 | Scawthorpe and Cusworth South Yorkshire | B− | 3.1 | 88% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 35 | Standish Greater Manchester | B− | 2.6 | 84% | 3.1 | 0% |
| 36 | Chigwell Essex | B− | 2.9 | 64% | 4.5 | 0% |
| 37 | Wells Somerset | B− | 1.7 | 65% | 3.4 | 26% |
| 38 | Sheerness Kent | B− | 3 | 68% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 39 | Ince-in-Makerfield Greater Manchester | B− | 2 | 74% | 5.1 | 0% |
| 40 | Rochford Essex | B− | 2 | 71% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 41 | Knutsford Cheshire | C+ | 2.6 | 83% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 42 | Thame Oxfordshire | C+ | 2.9 | 91% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 43 | Huntington North Yorkshire | C+ | 2 | 72% | 3.9 | 0% |
| 44 | Street Somerset | C+ | 0.7 | 96% | 3.5 | 0% |
| 45 | Todmorden West Yorkshire | C | 0.8 | 72% | 6.8 | 0% |
| 46 | Hersham Surrey | C | 2.5 | 73% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 47 | Bridgnorth Shropshire | C− | 2.4 | 66% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 48 | Haverfordwest Dyfed | C− | 1 | 85% | 1.4 | 8% |
| 49 | Oakham Rutland | C− | 1.8 | 86% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 50 | North Walsham Norfolk | C− | 1.3 | 69% | 2 | 10% |
| 51 | Market Drayton Shropshire | C− | 1.5 | 88% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 52 | Kirk Sandall and Edenthorpe South Yorkshire | D | 2 | 75% | 1.4 | 0% |
| 53 | Amesbury Wiltshire | D | 1.8 | 73% | 1.6 | 0% |
| 54 | Driffield East Riding of Yorkshire | D | 2.1 | 75% | 0.9 | 0% |
| 55 | Mountsorrel Leicestershire | D | 0.9 | 56% | 3.1 | 0% |
| 56 | Flint Clwyd | D | 1 | 56% | 1.2 | 0% |
| 57 | Mountain Ash Mid Glamorgan | D | 1.4 | 56% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 58 | Wombourne Staffordshire | D | 0.8 | 78% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 59 | Balderton Nottinghamshire | D | 1.4 | 64% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 60 | Thorne South Yorkshire | D− | 1.6 | 65% | 0.6 | 0% |
The map
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Whitby’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 Whitby
The biggest is Calla Beck, 5.6 ha (14 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
All 6 named parks by size: 15 ha (36 acres) and 3 km of path
Parks & gardens 11 haPlaying fields 3.9 ha
The two biggest, Calla Beck and Pannett Park, are 60% of the named green space and carry 2 km of path between them. 3 of the 6 are under 2 ha: small gardens, play spaces and pitches.
Pannett Park
Park or garden
3.2 ha (8 acres)1.6 km of path
20 minto walk all 1.6 km of path
4 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
Centralin the middle of Whitby
Playground 1 listed
Directionsto the nearest entrance
White Leys Playing Field
Playing field
3.9 ha (10 acres)
6 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
0.6 mi north-westfrom the centre
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Royal Crescent Gardens
Park or garden
0.7 ha (2 acres)0.4 km of path
0.5 mi northfrom the centre
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Abbey Plain
Park or garden
1.2 ha (3 acres)0.1 km of path
2 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
0.7 mi north-eastfrom the centre
Whitby Abbey Cross Grade I
Directionsto the nearest entrance
The Little Park
Park or garden
0.1 ha (0 acres)
Centralin the middle of Whitby
1 listed
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Close to home
Everyone in Whitby lives 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 (100%)Further (0%)
Whitby100%
Towns its size83%
North Yorkshire towns80%
All UK towns83%
Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 21 playgrounds are mapped in and around the town, about one for every 600 residents.
National Parks & National Landscapes
National Parks and National Landscapes around Whitby
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
North York Moors
At the edge south1,441 km²since 195253% of the land within 5 km
Official site53% of the land within 5 km of Whitby is National Park or National Landscape, more than 92% of UK towns. North York Moors National Park covers 1,441 km² and has been a National Park since 1952.
Footpaths & waymarked walks
Whitby is on the Cleveland Way
63 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Whitby and the kilometre around it, 2.9 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
Cleveland Way9.5 km
King Charles III England Coast Path: Filey Brigg to Newport Bridge9.4 km
Esk Valley Walk7.4 km
The Cleveland Way, a national route, passes Whitby. The regional route here is the Esk Valley Walk.
Waymarked walks are OpenStreetMap walking routes. Public rights of way are only as complete as the map in each area.
History along the way
A registered historic park in Whitby
Historic England’s register of parks and gardens, and the listed buildings and scheduled monuments that stand inside Whitby’s named parks.
Registered · Grade IIWhitby Abbey House2.0 ha
A listed building or monument counts when it sits inside the park’s OS Open Greenspace outline (to about 15 m), so a few at the boundary are included. Historic England, National Heritage List for England.
When to get out
The best walking months in Whitby: 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) | 7.8 | 9.6 | 11.7 | 14.0 | 16.0 | 17.2 | 16.7 | 14.9 | 12.6 | 10.4 | 8.3 | 7.3 |
| High (°C) | 7 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 15 | 18 | 20 | 20 | 17 | 14 | 10 | 7 |
| Rain (mm) | 60 | 50 | 44 | 47 | 41 | 62 | 52 | 61 | 58 | 64 | 80 | 72 |
May is the driest month (41 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 20 °C). Winter days are short, about 7 hours of daylight in December, and 80 mm of rain falls in November, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 30 nights a year. The climate in Whitby →
The coast
The coast and beaches near Whitby
39% of the area within 5 km of Whitby is sea. 4 beaches are mapped within 5 km, 1 with a name.
West Cliff Beach0.3 mi from town
DirectionsThe King Charles III England 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
10 viewpoints and 21 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
Campsites 3
Folly Gardensin town
DirectionsBeacon Farm0.7 mi from town
DirectionsPlus 1 campsite without a name on the map.
Slipways 2
Plus 2 slipways 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.
SleightsLoftusWhitby
ABCDOutdoors Grade
Whitby grades higher for the outdoors than every neighbour in the table.
Questions about the outdoors in Whitby
What is the biggest park in Whitby?
Calla Beck, 5.6 ha (14 acres), with 0.8 km of path. Pannett Park (3.2 ha) is second. 6 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the town or within 400 m of it.
Is Whitby near a National Park?
North York Moors National Park reaches the edge of Whitby. It covers 1,441 km² and has been a National Park since 1952.
What are the best walks near Whitby?
3 waymarked walking routes pass within 2 km of the town, including the Cleveland Way, King Charles III England Coast Path: Filey Brigg to Newport Bridge and Esk Valley Walk.
How many people in Whitby live near a park?
100% 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 Whitby?
May to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Which parks in Whitby are historic?
Whitby Abbey House (Grade II) is on Historic England’s register of parks and gardens.
Is Whitby good for walking?
About average for paths: 2.9 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 56% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 81% (4.0 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 Whitby’s overall grade.
Sources
Where Whitby’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.