East Ash Hill

The walk up East Ash Hill rewards you with proper Durham moorland views that stretch across the Pennines when the weather plays ball. It's not a dramatic peak - nothing like the Lake District - but it's the sort of walk you can knock out in an afternoon without faffing about with technical kit or spending three hours queueing at a car park.

You're looking at rough grassland, moorland heather, and the kind of exposed landscape that gets windswept fast. The views back towards Bishop Auckland and across to the Wear valley make it worth the effort, especially if you catch it on a clear day. On drizzly afternoons, though, it becomes a bit of a slog with nothing much to see beyond the next fifty metres.

This suits walkers more than families with young kids - there's no café, no facilities, just moorland and sky. Allow a couple of hours if you're reasonably fit. The terrain is open but boggy in places after rain, so decent boots matter.

If you're staying at one of the caravan parks around Bishop Auckland - Westgate or White House & Hagg Bridge are closest - East Ash Hill works as a morning walk before heading into town. It's close enough to not eat a huge chunk of your day, but far enough away to feel like you've left civilisation behind. Not Instagram-famous, but that's rather the point.