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LUNE VALLEY

WALK 1

Crook o’ Lune and Caton

Start/Finish Crook o’ Lune car park (refreshments, toilets) (SD521647) Distance 6km (3¾ miles) Total Ascent 45m (150ft) Terrain Riverside paths and old railway trackbed; be aware that the river often floods, making this route impassable Maps Explorer OL41 (Forest of Bowland and Ribblesdale)

This is a lovely and very gentle walk beside the River Lune, with excellent chances of seeing a wide range of birdlife, especially in summer when the sand martins and swallows return, and you can see kingfisher, oystercatcher and geese at any time of year.

The River Lune is a County Biological Heritage Site, and rises far away on the north-facing slopes of the Howgills, from where it heads west towards Tebay before being deflected through the delectable Lune Gorge, past Sedbergh and Kirkby Lonsdale to Hornby and Caton. It finally finds the sea south of Lancaster, feeding into the wide expanse of Morecambe Bay.

From the edge of the car park (which gets busy, so come early) there is a splendid view over the Lune towards Ingleborough, one painted by Turner. From this viewpoint bear right down a sloping pathway (ignore nearby steps), and at the bottom turn left across an old viaduct onto the trackbed of the former Lancaster-to-Wennington railway line, now part of the River Lune Millennium Park.