Parks, leisure and the arts Walks and runs

Three mile sight-seeing walk

Open a larger version of the map

This easy walk takes in most of the sights of the park and should take two and a half to three hours.

It is wheelchair accessible except for the optional Hazlitt Wood walk.

The Hazlitt wood walk is an extra mile.

  1. Enter the park at the Bury Old Road entrance. Take the path to the left (signposted for the football pitches). Follow the path and look out views across to the Pennines to your right. After a couple of hundred yards, you’ll come to the garden centre.
  2. Continue along the path past the Bowling Greens, following as it bears right then take the path that runs alongside the road to the right. Follow the short path to your left to see the Dower House. Retrace your steps to the main path, with a large children’s play area to your right, and go through the gate next to the cattle grid. Follow the path down towards the Hall.
  3. As you approach the Hall, go along the path to your left (signposted for toilets). Here you can take the walk to Hazlitt Wood Pond, look for the point of departure from the main walk on your left. Go to the Hazlitt Wood walk Follow the curve of the path round the wooded hill and look for the path on your right and follow the steep but short walk up to the Temple.
  4. Rejoin the main path until you reach the Orangery that adjoins the Hall. Look for the small blue plaque to the right of the door, commemorating the 133,516 trainee aircrew who were stationed at the park during World War II. In front of the Orangery there’s a delightful formal garden, and as you proceed along the back of Heaton Hall you can see the ‘Ha-Ha’, a low walled ditch designed to stop cattle grazing on the formal lawns, and the pair of lead lions on the south side of the hall.
  5. Follow the path to the junction and bear right to the Farm Centre, originally the stables and coach house, and now home to the Stables Café, our offices and the Animal Centre.
  6. Keep the centre to your right and continue towards the restored Western Pleasure Grounds - signposted for Dell Gardens. The path dips down through woods alongside a stream, and comes out at a small children’s playground, where you should turn right along the main path. Look out for the boating lake on your left and then take the path on the left keeping the lake to your right.
  7. Follow the path to the Boat and you will see the tram track for the Heaton Park Tramway. Follow the path right around the lake and for about a mile through the woods and along the banks. As you approach the southern tip of the lake look out for the sign on the left directing you to the Old Town Hall Colonnade. Walk through the arch and continue along the path under the colonnade to the junction.
  8. You are now in the south west area of the park, which was the setting for a race course in the early 19th century. Take a right and look to your left across the wide open grass area to see the Papal Monument. Continue towards the Hall and looking for the path signposted ‘Metrolink, Heaton Park’ to the finish.
Was this page helpful?

Fields marked * cannot be left blank

Feedback submitted to us on this form is monitored but you won’t receive a reply. In an emergency, visit our emergency contact details page. Please don't include any personal or financial information, for example your National Insurance or credit card numbers.