The best dog walks around Preston (to date!)

The blog's been going for nearly 6 months now and given it's bank holiday weekend I thought I'd reflect on the best places we've visited over the past 6 months. Every walk we've done has been graded on a 1 to 10 scale (10 being unbeatable)taking into account the enjoyment for me and, importantly, the dog!

No walks so far have scored higher than 8. This shouldn't suggest that there aren't some lovely walks to be had, it's a reflection of my quest for the absolutely perfect walk. Some of the walks scored 8 are probably near perfect dependant on the time you have available.

So, in no particular order, the top dog walks we've done to date are:

- Hurst Grange Park (Penwortham). A large local park with woodland, grassy fields and ponds. An excellent local amenity.

- Cuerden Valley Park. A large country park with great access from the motorway. Woodlands, fields and streams all combine to make this a great place to visit.

- Roddlesworth Woods. On the edge of the West Pennine moors but only 15 minutes drive from Preston. Woods, reservoirs, open moorland and a lovely cafe make this is a great place to visit with well marked walks for most abilities.

- White Coppice and Great Hill. A potentially challenging moorland walk which has limited opportunities for off lead walking if sheep are grazing but is still well worth a trip for the amazing views across Lancashire.

- St Annes Beach. A great place for a good run around in winter. Note that dogs are banned from some areas during summer.

Our first blogged walk, around Malham Cove and Tarn, also scored an 8/10 but it's a fair treck from Preston so not in my top 5 to date.

Enjoy the walks if you try them.