Yarm’s biggest
Willey Flatts Park
Park or garden
3.6 ha (9 acres)0.9 km of path
10 minto walk all 0.9 km of path
5 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
Centralin the middle of Yarm
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: Stephen McKay · CC BY-SA 2.0A−Outdoors Grade
Outdoors in Yarm · parks, paths & countryside
Almost everyone in Yarm lives within a 5-minute walk of a park
A park or playing field is within a 5-minute walk for 96% of residents. The North York Moors National Park begins 5.5 mi from the town’s edge. Footpaths add up to 66 km in the town and the kilometre around it, 3.8 for every square kilometre. Yarm grades A− for the outdoors: #14 of 54 in North Yorkshire. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Green space
3.3 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical UK town 2.1
Near a park
96%
of residents within 400 m
Typical UK town 83%
Footpaths
66 km
3.8 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical UK town 3.0 per km²
Protected landscape
0%
of the land within 5 km
North York Moors starts 5.5 mi out, past the 5 km
Character
What kind of outdoors town is Yarm?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
A park on every doorstep96% of residents live within 400 m of a park or playing field.A town of footpaths3.8 km of path per km², more than 76% of UK towns. The typical town has 3.0.Countryside close byThe North York Moors National Park starts 5.5 mi south-east.
Yarm’s strongest suit is parks close to every home, followed by dense footpaths.
Outdoors grade
Yarm grades A− for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Yarm, 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 75% of UK towns#14 of 54 in North Yorkshire · 24th of 60 UK towns its size
Public green space3.3 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
73out of
100
100
A park within a walk96%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
77out of
100
100
National Park or National Landscape0%of the land within 5 km · North York Moors begins just past 5 km
31out of
100
100
Footpaths3.8 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
77out 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
Yarm is 24th of 60 UK towns its size for the outdoors
The 60 UK towns and cities of 9,100 to 10,200 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
Yarm3.8
Towns its size3.1
North Yorkshire towns2.0
All UK towns3.0
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Yarm3.3
Towns its size2.7
North Yorkshire towns1.7
All UK towns2.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Yarm96%
Towns its size87%
North Yorkshire towns80%
All UK towns83%
Against towns its size, Yarm stands out most for park space per resident: only 17 of the other 59 have more.
Show as a table
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Caldicot Gwent | A+ | 4.2 | 92% | 3 | 2% |
| 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 | Linthwaite and Slaithwaite West Yorkshire | A | 2.2 | 97% | 4.8 | 12% |
| 6 | New Mills Derbyshire | A | 2.4 | 84% | 5.1 | 34% |
| 7 | Beccles Suffolk | A | 4.5 | 87% | 3.2 | 20% |
| 8 | South Merstham Surrey | A | 3.7 | 84% | 3.7 | 20% |
| 9 | Nuthall and Watnall Nottinghamshire | A | 6.3 | 97% | 4.3 | 0% |
| 10 | Bradford-on-Avon Wiltshire | A | 2.8 | 88% | 3.7 | 21% |
| 11 | Greasby Merseyside | A | 5.9 | 74% | 3.6 | 0% |
| 12 | Southborough Kent | A− | 2.8 | 94% | 2.5 | 57% |
| 13 | Whiteley Hampshire | A− | 3 | 52% | 4.4 | 2% |
| 14 | Thurmaston Leicestershire | A− | 10.4 | 89% | 4.2 | 0% |
| 15 | Esher Surrey | A− | 6.9 | 86% | 4.8 | 0% |
| 16 | Shelf and Northowram West Yorkshire | A− | 5.3 | 88% | 4.7 | 0% |
| 17 | Billingshurst West Sussex | A− | 2.9 | 95% | 3.1 | 3% |
| 18 | Kings Hill Kent | A− | 2.4 | 100% | 2.8 | 7% |
| 19 | Thurnscoe South Yorkshire | A− | 9.4 | 100% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 20 | Shaftesbury Dorset | A− | 2.8 | 92% | 2.3 | 44% |
| 21 | Bingham Nottinghamshire | A− | 3.4 | 100% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 22 | Aveley Essex | A− | 3.4 | 84% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 23 | Irthlingborough Northamptonshire | A− | 4.7 | 94% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 24 | Yarm North Yorkshire | A− | 3.3 | 96% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 25 | Corfe Mullen Dorset | B+ | 3.1 | 72% | 3.5 | 13% |
| 26 | Sandiacre Derbyshire | B+ | 2.6 | 94% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 27 | Shildon County Durham | B | 2.8 | 93% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 28 | Pontllanfraith Gwent | B | 3.7 | 93% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 29 | Hemsworth West Yorkshire | B | 3.6 | 100% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 30 | Ludlow Shropshire | B | 2.3 | 92% | 2.1 | 16% |
| 31 | Gatley Greater Manchester | B | 5.7 | 66% | 4.2 | 0% |
| 32 | North Wingfield and Holmewood Derbyshire | B | 2.7 | 84% | 4.1 | 0% |
| 33 | Queensbury West Yorkshire | B | 2.6 | 91% | 3.2 | 0% |
| 34 | Tiptree Essex | B | 2.7 | 90% | 3.2 | 0% |
| 35 | Immingham Lincolnshire | B | 2 | 100% | 1.1 | 0% |
| 36 | Perton Staffordshire | B | 2.4 | 93% | 3 | 0% |
| 37 | Pembroke Dock Dyfed | B− | 1.7 | 80% | 1.1 | 25% |
| 38 | Yaxley Cambridgeshire | B− | 2.6 | 90% | 3.1 | 0% |
| 39 | Caernarfon Gwynedd | B− | 1.7 | 83% | 1.4 | 14% |
| 40 | Horbury West Yorkshire | B− | 2.5 | 75% | 4.5 | 0% |
| 41 | Mildenhall Suffolk | B− | 2.1 | 91% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 42 | Radstock Somerset | B− | 1.1 | 93% | 2.9 | 1% |
| 43 | Knottingley West Yorkshire | B− | 2.7 | 88% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 44 | Whitchurch Shropshire | B− | 2.7 | 86% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 45 | Wideopen Tyne and Wear | C+ | 2.1 | 75% | 4.2 | 0% |
| 46 | Mold Clwyd | C+ | 1.9 | 86% | 1.6 | 17% |
| 47 | Brandon County Durham | C+ | 2.2 | 72% | 3.6 | 0% |
| 48 | Crook County Durham | C+ | 1.5 | 85% | 3.5 | 0% |
| 49 | Lydney Gloucestershire | C+ | 2.1 | 52% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 50 | Barwell Leicestershire | C | 1.7 | 90% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 51 | Diss Norfolk | C | 1.5 | 80% | 3.5 | 0% |
| 52 | Milnrow Greater Manchester | C | 2.9 | 58% | 3 | 0% |
| 53 | Shepton Mallet Somerset | C | 1.2 | 70% | 2.8 | 1% |
| 54 | Totnes Devon | C | 0.4 | 65% | 3.3 | 11% |
| 55 | Polegate East Sussex | C− | 0.8 | 64% | 2.2 | 24% |
| 56 | Pencoed Mid Glamorgan | C− | 2.8 | 52% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 57 | Broughton Astley Leicestershire | D | 1 | 82% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 58 | Brandon Suffolk | D | 0.8 | 39% | 3.5 | 0% |
| 59 | Littleport Cambridgeshire | D | 1 | 71% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 60 | Pheasey West Midlands | D− | 0.9 | 40% | 2.4 | 0% |
The map
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Yarm’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 Yarm
The biggest is Willey Flatts Park, 3.6 ha (9 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
Snaith's Field
Park or garden
0.9 ha (2 acres)0.3 km of path
0.5 mi northfrom the centre
Playground
Directionsto the nearest entrance
The Green
Park or garden · 280 m outside town
0.2 ha (0 acres)
1 mi northfrom the centre
Directionsto the park
Close to home
How close Yarm’s homes are to 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 (96%)Further (4%)
Yarm96%
Towns its size87%
North Yorkshire towns80%
All UK towns83%
About 300 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 34 playgrounds are mapped in and around the town, about one for every 282 residents.
National Parks & National Landscapes
The North York Moors National Park is 5.5 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
Protected landscape begins just outside the 5 km ring the Outdoors Grade measures, so Yarm scores 0% on it even though the North York Moors National Park is 5.5 mi away. North York Moors National Park covers 1,441 km² and has been a National Park since 1952.
Footpaths & waymarked walks
1 waymarked walk passes through or near Yarm
66 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Yarm and the kilometre around it, 3.8 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
Teesdale Way (Middleton in Teesdale to Middlesbrough)11.8 km
The regional route here is the Teesdale Way (Middleton in Teesdale to Middlesbrough).
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 Yarm: 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 | 13 | 16 | 18 | 21 | 20 | 18 | 14 | 10 | 7 |
| Rain (mm) | 43 | 41 | 38 | 50 | 41 | 62 | 65 | 65 | 59 | 56 | 65 | 57 |
March is the driest month (38 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 21 °C). Winter days are short, about 7 hours of daylight in December, and 65 mm of rain falls in August, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 48 nights a year. The climate in Yarm →
Things to do
34 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
Yarm is inland. These are the nearest named beaches, measured from the edge of the town.
Coatham Sands12 mi from Yarm’s edge
DirectionsMiddleton Beach14 mi from Yarm’s edge
DirectionsFish Sands14 mi from Yarm’s edge
DirectionsMarske Sands14 mi from Yarm’s edge
DirectionsBlock Sands14 mi from Yarm’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
Playgrounds 34
Snaith's Field Play Areain town
DirectionsSt Margarets Play Park0.3 mi from town
DirectionsWestlands0.7 mi from town
DirectionsEarlsmeadow0.8 mi from town
DirectionsWindmill Park0.9 mi from town
DirectionsRomano Park Play Area0.9 mi from town
DirectionsPlus 28 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.
EgglescliffeIngleby BarwickThornaby-on-TeesStaintonHutton RudbyMiddleton St GeorgeYarm
ABCDOutdoors Grade
| Town | Outdoors | Green space, ha per 1,000 | Near a park | Protected within 5 km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yarm | A− | 3.3 | 96% | 0% |
| Egglescliffe 1.8 mi | A− | 4.9 | 94% | 0% |
| Ingleby Barwick 2.1 mi | B+ | 2.9 | 87% | 0% |
| Thornaby-on-Tees 3.9 mi | A | 5.4 | 92% | 0% |
| Stainton 4.1 mi | D | 0.5 | 0% | 0% |
| Hutton Rudby 4.3 mi | D | 1.6 | 35% | 13% |
| Middleton St George 4.6 mi | C− | 1.8 | 94% | 0% |
Thornaby-on-Tees, 3.9 miles away, grades A, the best next door: 92% of its residents live within 400 m of a park.
Questions about the outdoors in Yarm
What is the biggest park in Yarm?
Willey Flatts Park, 3.6 ha (9 acres), with 0.9 km of path. Snaith's Field (0.9 ha) is second. 3 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the town or within 400 m of it.
Is Yarm near a National Park?
Yes. North York Moors National Park begins 5.5 mi south-east of the town’s edge. It covers 1,441 km² and has been a National Park since 1952.
What are the best walks near Yarm?
1 waymarked walking route passes within 2 km of the town, including the Teesdale Way (Middleton in Teesdale to Middlesbrough).
What is the nearest beach to Yarm?
Coatham Sands, 12 mi from the edge of the town, then Middleton Beach (14 mi). Yarm itself is inland.
How many people in Yarm live near a park?
96% 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 Yarm?
May to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Is Yarm good for walking?
For paths, yes: 3.8 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 77% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 73% (3.3 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 Yarm’s overall grade.
Sources
Where Yarm’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.