🥾 Walking route
Great Harwood Nature Walk
Lancashire
- 📏 4.5 km · 2.8 mi
- ⛰ +164 m
- ⏱ 1 hr 15 min
- 🐕 On lead
Walk stats
- Distance4.5 km · 2.8 mi
- Elevation+164 m
- Duration1 hr 15 min
- DifficultyModerate
- Route typeCircular
- TerrainField paths, woodland tracks and short climbs; can be muddy.
- Best seasonLate spring to early autumn for drier paths and woodland greenery.
- DogsDog-friendly; expect livestock in places, so keep on a lead near fields.
About this walk
This 4.5 km circular route loops through the gentle countryside on the edge of Great Harwood, climbing around 164 metres as it links several patches of attractive woodland. Allow roughly an hour and a quarter at a steady pace, with a few short pulls that justify the moderate grading.
The walk skirts the slopes of Bowley Hill, offering open views across the surrounding Lancashire farmland, before dropping into the sheltered greenery of Higher Dean wood and neighbouring Dean wood. These wooded cloughs are typical of the area, with mossy banks, small streams and a good chance of spotting woodland birds.
Beyond the Deans, the route passes Allsprings Plantation, a quieter belt of mixed trees that leads you back towards Great Harwood to close the loop. With its mix of ridge, pasture and woodland, it makes a satisfying half-morning outing for anyone exploring on foot from the town.
Route map
Route line drawn from OpenStreetMap footpath data. Numbered markers are waypoints on the route; amber star markers are points of interest a short detour away.
Waypoints along the route
4 waypoints along the way
- 1
Great Harwood (start and finish)
- Start / finish
Start and finish of this circular route.
- 2
Memorial Park
- 3
Egg Syke Plantation
- 4
The Laurels
Worth a short detour
Points of interest just off the route, look for the amber markers on the map.
Bowley Hill
~224 m off the route
Higher Dean wood
~236 m off the route
Dean wood
~251 m off the route
Horse Bowers
~272 m off the route
Allsprings Plantation
~306 m off the route
Route & waypoint data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).