Five green spaces for a York summer

York is a city that keeps its green spaces close, and there are five in and around it that make an easy summer day out. The most central is Dean's Park, tucked just north of York Minster and run by its Dean and Chapter. It's a quiet spot for a picnic, open from dawn until dusk, with a refreshment stand selling ice cream and soft drinks in the summer. There's a Paddington Bear bench near the Precentors Court entrance, added in 2024 for the release of Paddington in Peru, and the free York Minster Library and Archives sits within the park, holding around 40,000 books from after 1850. Dogs are welcome on a lead, and while picnics are fine, alcohol isn't allowed.

For something more botanical, the York Museum Gardens cover over ten acres in the city centre, close to the station, and are free to wander. Set up in the 1830s by the Yorkshire Philosophical Society, they're registered botanical gardens with trees, shrubs, perennials and bulbs set against the ruins of St Mary's Abbey. There's an Edible Wood and an Artists Garden with outdoor exhibitions, and a kiosk near the Museum Street entrance sells sandwiches, toasties, cakes and ice cream. Tours run at midday on Saturdays and Sundays, with a suggested £5 donation, and a plant bench lets you buy plants grown on site. It's open 9am to 6pm, with the Artists Garden on 10.30am to 4.30pm, and there are no public toilets inside, so the nearest are at Bootham Bar or Silver Street.

Rowntree Park sits on the banks of the Ouse in Clementhorpe, a Grade II listed space given to the city by Rowntree & Co in 1921 as a memorial to Cocoa Works staff who died in the First World War. It's now 25 acres with two play areas, a lake, a skate park, six tennis courts, a basketball court, woods and a reading cafe run as a branch of the York Explore library. The lake is home to swans, ducks and geese, with a section set aside for model boats. It's open from 8am, closing at 10pm in the summer, and because it sits on the Ouse floodplain it does close when the river floods, as it did in late 2023 and 2024 before reopening in March.

Out in Clifton, Homestead Park is an inclusive space run by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, opened in 1904 as York's first free public park. It's around 14 acres of formal gardens, two play areas, wildflower meadow, pond and rock garden, with The Hive Cafe serving drinks, ice cream, cakes and light meals. The playground includes an accessible swing for wheelchairs and a carousel, and the Pavilion, built around 1904, now hosts community groups. It's open 8.30am to 7.30am every day, with free cycle and car parking.

For something wilder, Knavesmire Wood is a free Woodland Trust site on the edge of the racecourse, about 12 acres of tall trees, rope swings and climbable branches. It's a nature reserve with flowers for pollinators, and you'll find great spotted woodpeckers, tawny owls and chiffchaffs among the ivy, bramble and wild arum. There's no parking, no toilets and no cafe, so it's a place to walk rather than settle. If you're happy to head slightly further out to Buttercrambe, the Northwood Trail turns 100 acres of woodland into a fairy sanctuary, with a willow-walled maze, fairy doors on trees, treehouse bridges, a giant mushroom ring and a Fairy Museum. The Northwood Kitchen serves coffee, tea, finger sandwiches, scones and cake, and car parking needs booking in advance. All children must be with an adult, and dogs are welcome.