Forest bathing in East Riding of Yorkshire

The East Riding is open farmland and chalk Wolds, so woodland is scarce, which makes the few good patches worth knowing. Millington Wood near Pocklington is an ash wood on the floor of a Wolds dale, the richest woodland for wild flowers in the East Riding. Allerthorpe Common nearby is Yorkshire Wildlife Trust heath with birch and pine. Burton Bushes on Beverley Westwood is a scrap of ancient oak pasture woodland, and on the coast Danes Dyke at Flamborough is a wooded ravine of oak, beech and holly running to the sea. Humber Bridge Country Park at Hessle has ash woodland in an old chalk quarry.

Forest bathing does not need a big forest. A session here is two to three hours spent slowly in a small wood, mostly still, noticing the sounds and the light, with tea at the end. The guides listed below give their own dates, venues and prices on their profiles.

Humber Bridge Country Park is the easiest start, with free parking, step-free access from the foreshore and Hessle station less than a mile away. Danes Dyke has a pay and display car park and a kiosk, though some of its paths have steps.