Leeds keeps its green space on two different geologies. To the north-west the ground rises into the gritstone escarpment of Otley Chevin Country Park and drops into the Wharfe valley, where Wharfemeadows Park lies flat along the river. To the south the city sits on a medieval coalfield: more than 270 bell pits survive under the ancient woodland of Middleton Park. Between them run the becks — one through Meanwood Park, another dammed to make the lake at Golden Acre Park — and the Victorian town bought the rest, Woodhouse Moor in 1857 and Roundhay Park fifteen years later.
They differ in scale and in effort. Roundhay Park is more than 700 acres of lake, woodland and formal garden on the north-eastern edge; Park Square, in the centre, is a single railed rectangle of Georgian lawn you cross in ninety seconds. The Chevin wants boots and a climb, while Wharfemeadows Park and Horsforth Hall Park are flat enough to push a buggy round. Sort them by how you are travelling and how long you have: the central spaces repay an hour on foot, the outer ones a half-day.
At a glance
| # | Place | Score | Reviews | Stands out for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Roundhay Park | ⭐ 9.5 | 15 066 | Editors' pick |
| 2 | Otley Chevin Country Park | ⭐ 9.5 | 2 478 | — |
| 3 | Middleton Park | ⭐ 9.3 | 2 462 | — |
| 4 | Golden Acre Park | ⭐ 9.5 | 2 052 | — |
| 5 | Park Square | ⭐ 9.1 | 1 780 | — |
| 6 | Woodhouse Moor | ⭐ 8.9 | 1 740 | — |
| 7 | Springhead Park | ⭐ 9.3 | 1 659 | — |
| 8 | Horsforth Hall Park | ⭐ 9.1 | 1 485 | — |
| 9 | Meanwood Park | ⭐ 9.5 | 1 403 | — |
| 10 | Wharfemeadows Park | ⭐ 9.1 | 1 155 | — |
Highlights
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Editors' pick:
Roundhay Park
Opening hours
Open around the clock: Roundhay Park, Otley Chevin Country Park, Middleton Park, Golden Acre Park, Park Square, Woodhouse Moor, Horsforth Hall Park, Meanwood Park, Wharfemeadows Park.
Open late: Roundhay Park, Otley Chevin Country Park, Middleton Park, Golden Acre Park, Park Square, Woodhouse Moor, Horsforth Hall Park, Meanwood Park, Wharfemeadows Park.
Check the hours before you set out — they shift on holidays and out of season.
Full ranking
1. Roundhay Park · ⭐ 9.5
(15066 reviews)
+7 photos
Mansion Ln, Roundhay, Leeds LS8 2HH, United Kingdom
Spread over more than 700 acres of parkland, lake, woodland and formal garden on the north-eastern edge of the city, Roundhay Park is one of the largest urban parks in Europe and comfortably the busiest green space in Leeds, drawing close to a million visits a year. It is less a park than a whole landscape held in one boundary: two lakes of utterly different character, a Greek…
«A huge park with a variety of criss-crossing paths and numerous parking spaces. We parked…»
2. Otley Chevin Country Park · ⭐ 9.5
(2478 reviews)
+7 photos
The Whitehouse Visitor Centre/Johnny La, Otley LS21 3JL, United Kingdom
The Chevin is the long, dark-edged escarpment that rises above Otley on the southern side of the Wharfe valley, and Otley Chevin Forest Park is the public estate that covers it. Its north-facing cliff climbs steeply to around 280 metres above sea level, with Beacon Hill, the true summit, reaching 283 metres — high enough that the whole valley, the town below and a long sweep of…
«This place is great. The views are just absurd. I came here from the USA, and we have noth…»
3. Middleton Park · ⭐ 9.3
(2462 reviews)
+7 photos
Town St, Middleton, Leeds LS10 3SH, United Kingdom
Middleton Park covers 630 acres in south Leeds — very nearly a square mile — and 200 of those acres are ancient woodland that has been continuously wooded since at least 1600, making Middleton Woods the largest surviving ancient wood in West Yorkshire. What makes it extraordinary is what lies under the bluebells. This hillside was one of the earliest industrial coalfields in Br…
«A peaceful wood with well-established trees, combining small trails if you choose to go of…»
4. Golden Acre Park · ⭐ 9.5
(2052 reviews)
+7 photos
Otley Rd, Bramhope, Leeds LS16 8BQ, United Kingdom
Golden Acre Park is 179 acres of lake, woodland, marsh and cultivated garden on the north-western edge of Leeds, and it is one of the strangest reinventions in the city's landscape. For six years in the 1930s this was a full-blown pleasure park with a monorail, hydroplanes, an open-air pool and the largest dance hall in Yorkshire — a deliberate attempt to build a Coney Island f…
«Golden Acre Park is one of the best places in Leeds for peaceful walks and enjoying nature…»
5. Park Square · ⭐ 9.1
(1780 reviews)
+7 photos
Park Square E, Leeds LS1 2NP, United Kingdom
It is worth saying plainly at the start: Park Square is not a park in the way the rest of this list is. It is a Georgian garden square in the middle of Leeds — a single rectangle of lawn and mature trees, enclosed by iron railings, ringed on all four sides by listed townhouses of the 1790s and early 1800s. You can cross it in ninety seconds. What it offers is not distance or wi…
«A nice quiet park in the middle of the city centre, very close to the town hall, so easy t…»
6. Woodhouse Moor · ⭐ 8.9
(1740 reviews)
+7 photos
Woodhouse Ln, Woodhouse, Leeds LS6 1SJ, United Kingdom
Woodhouse Moor is 26 hectares of grass, gardens and mature trees about a mile from the centre of Leeds, and it holds a title no other green space in the city can claim: in 1857 it became the first park the town ever bought for its people. Locals almost never use its proper name — to most of Leeds it is simply Hyde Park, after the district around it — and its character comes fro…
«I really enjoyed my visit to Woodhouse Moor! The recently refurbished playground is great…»
7. Springhead Park · ⭐ 9.3
(1659 reviews)
+7 photos
Park Ln, Rothwell, Leeds LS26 0DY, United Kingdom
Twenty-two hectares of clipped lawn, seasonal bedding and rough wooded edge sit on rising ground above Rothwell, and almost none of it would exist without the West Yorkshire coalfield. This is a public park paid for out of miners' welfare money in the middle of the Depression, laid out in two halves seven years apart, and it still behaves like a village common: brass bands on s…
«Great park to visit with a dog, lots of open space for him to burn off energy. Lovely litt…»
8. Horsforth Hall Park · ⭐ 9.1
(1485 reviews)
+7 photos
Hall Ln, Horsforth, Leeds LS18 5JE, United Kingdom
The hall this park is named after has not existed since 1953, and that absence is the point. Eight and a half acres of parkland north-west of Leeds hold the surviving stable block of a house begun in 1699, a Victorian-style bandstand, a walled Japanese garden with koi and a red arched bridge, a cricket square in continuous club use, and a playground rebuilt so that children of…
«Horsforth Park is lovely at any time of year, but especially in autumn with the colours on…»
9. Meanwood Park · ⭐ 9.5
(1403 reviews)
+7 photos
8 Tannery Square, Meanwood, Leeds LS6 4LT, United Kingdom
Twenty-nine hectares four miles north of Leeds city centre, and the most useful thing to understand about Meanwood Park is that it is not really a destination but a section of something longer. Meanwood Beck cuts through it, stone bridges cross it, and the whole park sits on the Meanwood Valley Trail — a seven-mile route that starts on Woodhouse Moor at the edge of the city and…
«A lovely place to enjoy the beauty and a peaceful, refreshing walk along the trail. Now is…»
10. Wharfemeadows Park · ⭐ 9.1
(1155 reviews)
+7 photos
1 Farnley Ln, Otley LS21 2AB, United Kingdom
Sixty acres of flat meadow and ornamental garden laid along the River Wharfe, and the river is not a backdrop here but the reason the park exists. Wharfemeadows runs the length of Otley's waterfront: gardens and lawns on one side of the path, moving water on the other, with the wooded ridge of The Chevin standing over the whole thing. It was assembled in 1924 out of a council p…
«This park is clean, well kept and huge. Perfect for a nice walk. A great play area for chi…»
Questions & answers
Which place tops the ranking? Roundhay Park — score 9.5/10 (Editors' pick).
How many places are in the list and how were they chosen? The selection includes 10 places chosen by our editors based on rating and reviews.
What is the average rating in the top? 9.3/10 — average score of 10 places in the list.
Which place has the most reviews? Roundhay Park — 15066 visitor reviews.
With a small child you want playground, café and level path close together — the garden end of Roundhay Park, the riverbank at Wharfemeadows Park, or Horsforth Hall Park, whose playground suits children of all abilities. Runners get a timed 5km on Saturday mornings at Roundhay Park, Middleton Park, Woodhouse Moor and Otley Chevin Country Park, the last far from flat. Water means the lake at Golden Acre Park or the beck at Meanwood Park; quiet means the walled Japanese garden at Horsforth Hall Park; heat means canopy, snow means Hill 60 at Roundhay Park.
Ten entries cannot hold a city this size. Cycling appears only as a facility — the bike park at Middleton Park, the bridleways above Otley — never as a route; nothing records fenced dog runs or evening lighting. Accessibility is uneven: Wharfemeadows Park is flat with accessible toilets, Meanwood Park has none and its northern woodland is steep and wet. Two of the ten belong to a market town ten miles out, and the list stops there.
See also:
Best flower shops
Sources: Google ratings and reviews, official websites and social media of the places, other open data. Selection and texts by the leedsname.com editorial team, August 2026.