Our drawing of the route, over road and path data from OpenStreetMap. It shows where the walk goes and what it goes through. It is not a survey and not a navigation aid — carry OS Explorer on the hill.
Three and a half miles between the two Askham villages on the old Ainsty field paths west of the city, an hour and a half, flat farmland with several kissing gates, a couple of stiles and one stretch of lane without a footway. Start on the green at Askham Bryan, four miles from York, where there is roadside parking by the church and the number 4 bus from the city calls at the village edge; Askham Richard has a pond, a green and nothing else, which is the appeal. Arable fields dominate so there is less livestock here than on the ings, but sheep are put on the pasture near Askham Richard in winter and there is no water on the route at all; the paths are cropped headlands and go sticky rather than impassable, so this stays walkable most of the winter in wellingtons.
Three miles of riverbank and old railway five miles south of the city, an hour and a quarter, level throughout apart from one flight of steps up to the railway path and two or three stiles that a heavy dog will need helping over. Start in Acaster Malbis where there is limited roadside parking and a pub car park for customers, and in summer the York City Cruises boat from Kings Staith will drop you at the village landing, which is far and away the best way to arrive. The riverside fields are grazed by cattle from spring to autumn, so leads on there and give any herd with calves a wide berth, and the Ouse offers a proper swim for a strong dog at the sandy pull-in below the village; the railway path stays hard and clean in winter while the riverbank turns to deep mud.
A pocket-sized local nature reserve on the south-west edge of the city, giving a mile of woodland and meadow paths in twenty-five easy minutes; a remnant of genuinely ancient woodland with bluebells in May and shade in a heatwave. Park on Acomb Wood Drive or Foxwood Lane and walk straight in, or take the number 4 bus to Foxwood; there are no gates or stiles a big dog cannot manage. Dogs are off lead throughout with no livestock, but the reserve is small, popular and close to housing, so recall matters; the woodland paths get properly claggy after rain and this is not the one to pick in a wet January.
Yorkshire Wildlife Trust's celebrated fenland reserve on York's south-west edge — Sir David Attenborough called it a cathedral of nature conservation — explored via a 750-metre boardwalk circuit. Dogs are allowed but must stay on a lead and keep to the boardwalk to protect the fragile peatland and its wildlife. Free entry at all times, with a small gravel car park off the A1036 near Askham Bar.
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