Majestic walk by the River Lune in the Forest of Bowland, with little to no undulation. Expect proper english countryside throughout.
River Lune Walk
Location; Caton, Lancashire
Distance; 4 Miles
Difficulty; Easy
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River Lune Walk
We start our walk at the Bull Beck picnic site.
Google Maps link for parking: https://goo.gl/maps/A4upKo4CK3E9grVE8
Once you’re parked up, head to the main road and cross over where possible, to join the traffic-free cycle path.
For our recommended walk, turn left on the cycle path and after walking 20 metres or so, turn right.
Head down the old farm track until you reach the field gate entrance. Proceed through, keeping the river lune on your right. Continue to follow the river tight to the river bank edge, eventually bending round to the left.
Expect sheep in this field, so dogs on leads guys.
The view here might not seem much, but from the drone above, the horseshoe bend looks absolutely spectacular!
Continue to follow the edge of the river around to the left. Shortly after, you should approach a bridge to your right. Cross this and turn left immediately after.
Once over the bridge, there’s just the one path through this next section, another field which takes you towards a small wooded area, parallel to the river (now on your left).
Within half a mile keeping to this path, you’ll eventually enter the last sheep field of the day, taking us right up to one of the Forest of Bowland’s most known beauty spots – the Crook of Lune.
Another beautiful horseshoe bend in the river, the Crook o’ Lune as it’s formally known, has been painted by famous artists, celebrated by writers such as William Wordsworth… and now holds its place on the Lancashire Lads website. Not bad indeed!
Expect crowds here in the summer, and some traffic along the top road, just a few steps up from the river. This is an ideal spot mid-walk, to stop and grab a bite to eat, and we would recommend taking a stroll up to a recommended viewpoint which overlooks the stretch of river walk we’ve just done.
Follow our GPS map to find where there’s a couple of bench seats to sit and relax.
There’s refreshments here, at the Crook of Lune picnic site, along with toilet facilities. The picnic site is hard to miss – located just up from the same steps.
Ready to move on? Now we need to hop back onto the same cycle path we joined all the way back from the first picnic site. The bridge is just over to the left of the Crook of Lune picnic site carpark, or up from the steps mentioned above, again keeping left. Once on the path, turn left and proceed over the pedestrian bridge. We’re heading back to the start.
The cycle path spans over 9 miles in total. We will be following it around to the left, eventually leading us back to our starting point.
From here, you shouldn’t need much direction, simply keep going along the cycle path for more than a good mile or so, until you see a sign and a right turning for Bull Beck picnic site, where we first parked up. Enjoy a nice mix of nature of farming life on either side of the path.
In all honesty, there are so many public footpaths we could explore when it comes to the river Lune, but the river runs for over 53 miles… we didn’t think you would want us to take you on a hike for that long!?
We really do love this short walk by the river Lune, and hope you have enjoyed it too. If you have managed to take any pictures whilst following our recommended route, do post them on Instagram and don’t forget to tag us at @lancashirelads.life so we can see.
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