Are you in Yorkshire

[GingerRodgers18]

Sorry blatantly posting for traffic.

If you're in Yorkshire can you recommend anywhere we can drive to (since we are now allowed apparently) for a socially distanced walk with a toddler?

I've given up near us and haven't been any further than the garden in a week (DH has on his own though), we live on greenbelt but in a quite densely populated village/suburb and it's like bloody Piccadilly circus. No chance of social distancing really, this is in part due to the nature of the area - lots of single track farm paths and then roads which only have pavements on one side, but we also have a lot of idiots who don't understand social distancing. Apparently since they said you could drive it's got even busier with people driving and parking all over the pavements - this was reported to me by DH.

We've kind of thought well if you can't beat em.......I want to social distance though 100% and certainly don't want to piss residents off so can't be close to houses/residential areas, and ideally needs to be a vast or really large open space and with lots of places to park spread out so you could park away from other cars safely and without obstructing anything - Ideally in North or West Yorks.

Wracking my brains but can't think. We don't really go further afield unless its the coast or National Trust as plenty of family walks on our doorstep.

within an hour of Leeds ideally

Jesus wept.

Is Temple Newsam open/near to you? The canal down by Stanley Ferry?

Those recent suggestions are mostly places which someone who doesn't live very near them will know of .... exactly the sort of places which are likely to be getting too many people driving too far to get to and parking stupidly because the car parks won't be open.

Bolton abbey is almost an hour from Wetherby. That's not reasonable or necessary at all.

Not to mention it's closed as are national trust properties thanks to people thinking that the rules don't apply to them. I believe OP refers to them as "idiots"

I was merely making suggestions which might be vaguely helpful. If the OP doesn't want to use them, she doesn't have to.

The problem is that any of our suggestions will be the popular, ie busy ones.
Try the apps AllTrails or Map my walk and start with ‘near me’.

Okay, if you're south yorkshire, have you thought about walking the 5 weirs walk? O you walk along the cancel from rotherham to sheffield. It's quite pretty and scenic.. depending on where you are, park near New York stadium and walk around the back to reach the trail. You'll see tons of canal boats and wildlife

Here's a link my.viewranger.com/route/details/MTQ1OQ==

I live near a stretch of canal which isn't on any tourist radar; we're having to avoid it because it's the obvious 'nice' local walk and towpaths are not always great widthwise for social distancing.

The canals and rivers trust has issued guidance advising stay local, and also avoid stretches with moored boats (people may be living in them)

canalrivertrust.org.uk/enjoy-the-waterways/safety-on-our-waterways/coronavirus

Some of the advice on this thread is kindly meant but is not all very well informed or sensible at the moment.
They'll be lovely places to explore with your little one in the future though!

Look on Bing maps Ordnance Survey option. There are more footpaths and bridle paths around Wetherby/Spofforth/Sicklinghall than you can shake a stick at. You don't say how far from Wetherby you are but there are a lot of local options without having to drive to the obvious hot-spots like Bolton Abbey etc.

Is it worth the risk of being stopped and given a fine?

ALL the walks PPs have suggested will be just as busy as the ones near your village, especially if idiots get in their cars to go to find nice walks in the countryside. Why do you think your local area with nice countryside walks will be any more crowded than any others which are accessible from Leeds or Bradford?

FGS for the rest of us in Yorkshire's sakes please just walk from home or go only a SHORT journey and use some of the footpaths near your village.

Anyone else sat here with their head in their hands?

Yep. OP literally described herself when she wrote about "idiots who don't understand social distancing"

Stay at home. It's really that simple. Nothing has changed. There are no new rules.

Which part of Yorkshire are you thinking about? , it is made up of 3 seperate counties, south, west and North. From south to north yorkshire is around 100 miles

The trouble is is everyone drives a significant distance to a well known beauty spot further afield like that mad weekend it gets far too many visitors. Personally I wish they hadn't worded it the way they did.Drive 2 hours ?.Which is what can easily be done in Yorkshire. It's huge.I'm sticking to walking from home or at most 15/20 minutes at most to some different woods.

Do not come to Yorkshire. We don't want people visiting, its on every single local fb page

Don't think you've quite got the knack of this staying local thing there, OP.

Actually thinking about it I don't even think I will drive anywhere until we're out of lockdown. I really don't need to.I don't feel comfortable about even a shorter journey. And reading some of the suggestions on here has made me worried.Stick local. Please.

Roundhay park is open and, although there are plenty of people using it, it's not overcrowded due to the size. I work opposite it and I'm looking out at a practically empty green field. The paths around the lakes are more busy and not good for keeping a two metre distance, but the rest of the park is fine. Car parks are closed but lots of on street parking available.

Ilkley Moor is pretty big...

Avoid towpaths, they’re too busy.

Here are a list of walks around the Leeds area, some of which I've done before. Some may be too far for a "short drive" though as per the guidelines, depending which side of Leeds you live on

leeds-list.com/culture/the-best-family-friendly-walks-within-an-hour-of-leeds/

Ditto the Cow and Calf Rocks at Ilkley

Car parks are closed because so many people drove to take their exercise.

Marston Moor - not that far from Wetherby. If you Google it there's directions for a walk.

Ogden Water? Nice wide paths once you get to the waterside.