Cottage Pasture Wood

The woodland around Cottage Pasture near Driffield is proper walking country - the sort of place where you can disappear into the trees for an hour and forget there's a caravan park within spitting distance. It's not dramatic or famous, just genuine North Yorkshire forest with decent paths that meander through beech and oak, the kind of spot locals know and visitors miss.

You'll get the most from this if you're after a straightforward woodland walk rather than views or attractions. Families with kids of walking age will do fine here, though there's nothing to keep restless younger ones entertained once the novelty of the trees wears off. The paths are manageable but muddy when wet - proper boots recommended. Allow an hour or two depending on which routes you fancy; there's no formal loop marked out, so you can tailor it to your energy levels.

If you're staying at Haven Thornwick Bay - the better-rated of the two nearby parks - this is an easy fifteen-minute drive and worth the petrol to stretch your legs properly rather than just wandering around the holiday park itself. Haven Primrose Valley is marginally closer if you're based there. The woodland works well as a morning outing before lunch, or late afternoon when it's quieter. Summer's fine, but autumn's when it earns its keep - the light through the leaves is worth the trip alone.

Free to access, no facilities on site, and genuinely low-key. Not Instagram-famous, not packed, just a decent patch of English woodland. Sometimes that's exactly what you need.