Our drawing of the route — the shape of the walk, not a navigation aid. Carry OS Explorer on the hill.
Twenty-five hectares of reedbed, wet woodland, fen and lowland meadow on the old Barnsley to Cudworth railway line, reached from a small free car park on Shaw Lane. Yorkshire Wildlife Trust states plainly that "Dogs are allowed on the public footpaths on leads", so this is a lead walk, not a place to let one range. The footpaths are good but are reached by steps or steep slopes off the old line, which rules out wheels. The car park holds about ten cars and is locked between dusk and dawn, so do not leave it late.
Twenty-one hectares of rolling grassland with a fringe of broadleaved woodland on the old Barnsley Main colliery site at Hoyle Mill, with the listed headgear and winding house still standing at the entrance on Oaks Lane. Yorkshire Wildlife Trust's stated dog rule here is simply "On a lead". The bottom of the site is flat with a wide footpath and joins the Trans Pennine Trail directly, but the climb to the top is genuinely steep at about one in five, so pick your route to suit the dog. Parking is informal street parking on Oaks Lane opposite the old mine shaft building; there is no car park.
Eighty hectares of woodland, wet woodland, ponds and grassland along the River Dearne between Barnsley town centre and Stairfoot, including the ancient oak and silver birch of Cliffe Wood. Yorkshire Wildlife Trust's stated dog rule is "On a lead. Some more remote areas are suitable for running free", which is a rare piece of honesty from a landowner and worth reading twice before you unclip. The paths are good tarmac with a range of DDA compliant routes, so it is one of the few sites in the borough that genuinely works with a wheelchair or a bad knee. Park on Pontefract Road, or off Eaming View at the western end.
A motorway-junction hotel on Barnsley Road at Dodworth, a mile from junction 37 of the M1 and two miles west of Barnsley town centre. The hotel's own FAQ publishes the dog terms plainly: ten pounds a night as a cleaning fee, with assistance dogs free of charge, and dogs kept out of the food service areas. It is a practical base rather than a characterful one, but it puts Cannon Hall, Wentworth Castle Gardens, Worsbrough Mill and the whole Dearne Valley within twenty minutes' drive. Free parking on site.
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