Lady Hill

The walk up Lady Hill takes the better part of an hour from Ripon, and on a clear day it's absolutely worth the effort. You're climbing to around 500 metres, which sounds modest until you're halfway up and your legs remember you skipped the gym last month. But once you crest the top, the Dales roll out in every direction - proper sprawling countryside that makes you understand why people move to Yorkshire and never leave.

It's not a technical scramble or anything dramatic. The path is well-trodden, muddy when wet (and it's often wet), and you'll share it with fell runners and dog walkers who clearly do this in their sleep. The actual peak is marked with a trig point, the kind of thing that makes OS map devotees genuinely excited. Visibility matters hugely here - come on a grey day and you'll see moorland and not much else. Come on a clear one and you get real landscape.

Family groups with confident walkers will enjoy it. Toddlers and elderly relatives who aren't regular hikers should probably give it a miss - there's no quick bail-out option halfway. A couple of hours total, including the climb down, which is gentler on the knees than you'd expect.

If you're based at Woodhouse Farm Holiday Park or Sleningford Watermill, both within striking distance of Ripon, this makes a solid morning out before lunch back in town. It's the sort of walk that feels like proper Yorkshire fell country without requiring a dawn start or specialist kit.