Rawdon’s biggest
Engine Fields Park
Park or garden · 380 m outside town
3.2 ha (8 acres)1.6 km of path
20 minto walk all 1.6 km of path
4 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
0.9 mi north-westfrom the centre
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: Chemical Engineer · CC BY-SA 4.0C+Outdoors Grade
Outdoors in Rawdon · parks, paths & countryside
Rawdon has more footpath per square kilometre than 9 in 10 UK towns
85 km of footpaths run through the town and the kilometre around it, 5.1 for every square kilometre. The Nidderdale National Landscape begins 3.7 mi from the town’s edge. A park or playing field is within a 5-minute walk for 67% of residents. Rawdon grades C+ for the outdoors: #70 of 91 in West Yorkshire. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Green space
1.7 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical UK town 2.1
Near a park
67%
of residents within 400 m
Typical UK town 83%
Footpaths
85 km
5.1 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical UK town 3.0 per km²
Protected landscape
0%
of the land within 5 km
Nidderdale starts 3.7 mi out, past the 5 km
Character
What kind of outdoors town is Rawdon?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
A town of footpaths5.1 km of path per km², more than 93% of UK towns. The typical town has 3.0.Countryside close byThe Nidderdale National Landscape starts 3.7 mi north-west.Less park per person1.7 ha of parks and playing fields per 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1.
Rawdon’s strongest suit is dense footpaths, followed by the Nidderdale National Landscape close by. Where it falls short is park space per person.
Outdoors grade
Rawdon grades C+ for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Rawdon, 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#70 of 91 in West Yorkshire · 40th of 60 UK towns its size
Public green space1.7 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
34out of
100
100
A park within a walk67%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
27out of
100
100
National Park or National Landscape0%of the land within 5 km · Nidderdale begins just past 5 km
31out of
100
100
Footpaths5.1 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
Rawdon is 40th of 60 UK towns its size for the outdoors
The 60 UK towns and cities of 6,400 to 7,000 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
Rawdon5.1
Towns its size2.9
West Yorkshire towns3.5
All UK towns3.0
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Rawdon1.7
Towns its size2.1
West Yorkshire towns2.1
All UK towns2.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Rawdon67%
Towns its size80%
West Yorkshire towns87%
All UK towns83%
Against towns its size, Rawdon stands out most for path per km²: only 2 of the other 59 have more. It falls furthest behind on park space per resident, where 38 of the others do better.
Show as a table
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Acrefair and Cefn-mawr Clwyd | A | 6.5 | 96% | 2.9 | 36% |
| 2 | Filey North Yorkshire | A | 5.9 | 89% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 3 | Bishop's Waltham Hampshire | A | 2.6 | 93% | 3.4 | 55% |
| 4 | Chalford Gloucestershire | A | 1.6 | 96% | 4.7 | 94% |
| 5 | East Boldon and West Boldon Tyne and Wear | A | 3.4 | 96% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 6 | Shotton Clwyd | A | 4.5 | 100% | 4.7 | 0% |
| 7 | Ibstock Leicestershire | A | 8.5 | 96% | 4.6 | 0% |
| 8 | Barton on Sea Hampshire | A | 4.9 | 50% | 2.8 | 22% |
| 9 | Easington County Durham | A− | 5 | 94% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 10 | Broad Blunsdon Wiltshire | A− | 5.2 | 93% | 4.4 | 0% |
| 11 | Walton-on-the-Naze Essex | A− | 3.2 | 96% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 12 | St Blazey Cornwall | A− | 2.4 | 78% | 2.8 | 17% |
| 13 | Olney Buckinghamshire | A− | 6.3 | 100% | 3.2 | 0% |
| 14 | Whitfield Kent | A− | 2.3 | 79% | 2.5 | 32% |
| 15 | Horden County Durham | A− | 2.1 | 82% | 4.8 | 0% |
| 16 | Paulton Somerset | A− | 2.1 | 96% | 4.1 | 0% |
| 17 | Shiremoor Tyne and Wear | A− | 2.5 | 76% | 5.3 | 0% |
| 18 | Whitworth Lancashire | B+ | 2.5 | 96% | 4.7 | 0% |
| 19 | Lightwater Surrey | B+ | 9.2 | 72% | 5.6 | 0% |
| 20 | Fence Houses Tyne and Wear | B+ | 3.8 | 81% | 4.7 | 0% |
| 21 | North Anston South Yorkshire | B+ | 2.6 | 100% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 22 | Cleator Moor Cumbria | B+ | 3.5 | 91% | 1.9 | 11% |
| 23 | Little Chalfont Buckinghamshire | B+ | 1.5 | 83% | 3.6 | 45% |
| 24 | Groby Leicestershire | B+ | 2.1 | 96% | 4.5 | 0% |
| 25 | Peasedown St John Somerset | B+ | 1.5 | 88% | 4 | 9% |
| 26 | Skelton (Redcar and Cleveland) North Yorkshire | B+ | 1.7 | 82% | 2.2 | 9% |
| 27 | Burley in Wharfedale West Yorkshire | B | 1.6 | 81% | 3.5 | 35% |
| 28 | Braunton Devon | B | 1.6 | 78% | 2.1 | 24% |
| 29 | Hartford Cheshire | B | 2.2 | 95% | 3.7 | 0% |
| 30 | Barrow upon Soar Leicestershire | B− | 2.7 | 89% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 31 | Rishton Lancashire | B− | 2.2 | 94% | 3 | 0% |
| 32 | Wincanton Somerset | B− | 1.4 | 88% | 2.8 | 7% |
| 33 | Crigglestone and Durkar West Yorkshire | B− | 4.4 | 45% | 3.9 | 0% |
| 34 | Blackheath West Midlands | C+ | 2.5 | 57% | 4.9 | 0% |
| 35 | Allerton Bywater West Yorkshire | C+ | 2.1 | 78% | 3.9 | 0% |
| 36 | North Baddesley Hampshire | C+ | 1.7 | 91% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 37 | Chiswell Green Hertfordshire | C+ | 4 | 54% | 3.5 | 0% |
| 38 | Denmead Hampshire | C+ | 1.4 | 72% | 2.8 | 35% |
| 39 | Chipping Norton Oxfordshire | C+ | 1.5 | 67% | 2.4 | 73% |
| 40 | Rawdon West Yorkshire | C+ | 1.7 | 67% | 5.1 | 0% |
| 41 | Bolton-le-Sands Lancashire | C+ | 1.1 | 58% | 1.6 | 23% |
| 42 | Brampton Cambridgeshire | C | 3.2 | 61% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 43 | Market Deeping Lincolnshire | C | 1.5 | 96% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 44 | Farnham Common and Farnham Royal Buckinghamshire | C | 1 | 55% | 4.1 | 0% |
| 45 | Hattersley Greater Manchester | C | 0.9 | 52% | 3.9 | 7% |
| 46 | Waddington Lincolnshire | C | 2.3 | 87% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 47 | Rhoose South Glamorgan | C | 2 | 43% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 48 | Great Wakering Essex | C | 1.1 | 47% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 49 | Market Warsop Nottinghamshire | C | 2.1 | 67% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 50 | Lydiate Merseyside | C− | 1.5 | 90% | 2 | 0% |
| 51 | Ashingdon Essex | C− | 1.3 | 61% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 52 | Hollywood Worcestershire | C− | 2.4 | 54% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 53 | Culcheth Cheshire | C− | 1.7 | 67% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 54 | Holmes Chapel Cheshire | D | 0.8 | 72% | 2 | 0% |
| 55 | Pontarddulais West Glamorgan | D | 1.9 | 67% | 0.5 | 0% |
| 56 | Coleshill Warwickshire | D | 1.3 | 69% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 57 | Broughton Clwyd | D− | 0.8 | 80% | 1 | 0% |
| 58 | Keyworth Nottinghamshire | D− | 1.3 | 58% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 59 | Blythe Bridge and Forsbrook Staffordshire | D− | 1.6 | 49% | 1.1 | 0% |
| 60 | Albrighton Shropshire | D− | 0.8 | 32% | 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 Rawdon’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 Rawdon
The biggest is Engine Fields Park, 3.2 ha (8 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
All 4 named parks by size: 14 ha (34 acres) and 3 km of path
Parks & gardens 8.3 haPlaying fields 5.5 ha
The two biggest, Engine Fields Park and Micklefield Park, are 53% of the named green space and carry 3 km of path between them.
Micklefield Park
Park or garden
4.1 ha (10 acres)1.1 km of path
15 minto walk all 1.1 km of path
6 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
Centralin the middle of Rawdon
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Yarnbury Rugby Football Club
Playing field · 370 m outside town
5.5 ha (14 acres)
8 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
1.1 mi eastfrom the centre
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Little Moor
Park or garden
1.0 ha (2 acres)
Centralin the middle of Rawdon
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Close to home
7 in 10 Rawdon 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 (67%)Further (33%)
Rawdon67%
Towns its size80%
West Yorkshire towns87%
All UK towns83%
About 2,200 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 27 playgrounds are mapped in and around the town, about one for every 250 residents.
National Parks & National Landscapes
The Nidderdale National Landscape is 3.7 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 Rawdon scores 0% on it even though the Nidderdale National Landscape is 3.7 mi away. Yorkshire Dales National Park covers 2,185 km² and has been a National Park since 1954.
Footpaths & waymarked walks
4 waymarked walks pass through or near Rawdon
85 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Rawdon and the kilometre around it, 5.1 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0). Bars show each route’s kilometres within 2 km of the town.
RegionalLocal
Airedale Way10.9 km
Leeds Country Way9.1 km
Calverley Millenium Way7.1 km
Welcome Way2.4 km
Close to home, the Leeds Country Way has 9 km of local walk within 2 km of the town. The regional route here is the Airedale 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 Rawdon: 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) | 7 | 7 | 9 | 12 | 15 | 18 | 20 | 20 | 17 | 13 | 9 | 7 |
| Rain (mm) | 76 | 61 | 58 | 51 | 55 | 70 | 68 | 61 | 66 | 80 | 80 | 83 |
April is the driest month (51 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 20 °C). Winter days are short, about 7 hours of daylight in December, and 83 mm of rain falls in December, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 43 nights a year. The climate in Rawdon →
Things to do
5 viewpoints, 27 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
Rawdon is inland. These are the nearest named beaches, measured from the edge of the town.
Treasure Beach19 mi from Rawdon’s edge
DirectionsPebble Beach21 mi from Rawdon’s edge
DirectionsYork Beach25 mi from Rawdon’s edge
DirectionsDoncaster Lakeside Beach32 mi from Rawdon’s edge
DirectionsBeach at Doncaster Lakeside32 mi from Rawdon’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. Rawdon Billing, at 231 m, is the highest named top within 2 km of Rawdon.
Every named place, with directions
Viewpoints 5
Rawdon Trig point0.2 mi from town
DirectionsNob Hill Viewpoint0.5 mi from town
DirectionsCemetery Viewpoint0.9 mi from town
DirectionsPlus 2 viewpoints without a name on the map.
Hills and peaks 4
Rawdon Billing231 m (758 ft) · 0.2 mi from town
DirectionsYeadon Banks0.8 mi from town
DirectionsYeadon Haw0.9 mi from town
DirectionsSodhall Hill1.1 mi from town
DirectionsWaterfalls 1
Plus 1 waterfall without a name on the map.
Nature reserves 2
Rodley Nature Reserve31 ha · 0.8 mi from town
DirectionsPlus 1 nature reserve without a name on the map.
Picnic sites 5
Calverley Lane Picnic Area0.0 mi from town
DirectionsPlus 4 picnic sites without a name on the map.
Playgrounds 27
Yanki Doodlz Play Zone and Diner0.1 mi from town
DirectionsKids About Tarn0.5 mi from town
DirectionsKids Clubhouse0.8 mi from town
DirectionsJigsaw Juniors0.8 mi from town
DirectionsPlus 23 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.
YeadonCalverleyGuiseleyBramhopePudseyMenstonRawdon
ABCDOutdoors Grade
Yeadon, 1.1 miles away, grades A, the best next door: 94% of its residents live within 400 m of a park. Yeadon has at least twice Rawdon’s green space per resident.
Questions about the outdoors in Rawdon
What is the biggest park in Rawdon?
Engine Fields Park, 3.2 ha (8 acres), with 1.6 km of path, just outside the built-up area. Micklefield Park (4.1 ha) is second. 4 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the town or within 400 m of it.
Is Rawdon near a National Park?
Yes. Yorkshire Dales National Park begins 9.8 mi north-west 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 Nidderdale National Landscape, 3.7 mi away.
What are the best walks near Rawdon?
4 waymarked walking routes pass within 2 km of the town, including the Airedale Way, Leeds Country Way and Calverley Millenium Way.
What is the nearest beach to Rawdon?
Treasure Beach, 19 mi from the edge of the town, then Pebble Beach (21 mi). Rawdon itself is inland.
How many people in Rawdon live near a park?
67% 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 Rawdon?
May to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Is Rawdon good for walking?
For paths, yes: 5.1 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 94% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 34% (1.7 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 Rawdon’s overall grade.
Sources
Where Rawdon’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.