Forest bathing in West Yorkshire

West Yorkshire's woods cling to its valley sides. Hardcastle Crags above Hebden Bridge is the best known, a National Trust gorge of oak, beech and pine along Hebden Water with Gibson Mill at its centre. Chevin Forest Park above Otley is oak and birch on a gritstone ridge, and Judy Woods between Bradford and Brighouse is one of the largest beech woods in the county. Leeds has Middleton Park, the city's biggest ancient woodland, and Wakefield has Newmillerdam Country Park, old woodland around a lake.

Forest bathing is unhurried and guided, usually two to three hours in a small group with simple invitations to notice, listen and rest, and more time spent still than walking. The steep valley woods here are sheltered and loud with running water, which suits the colder months, and most are within reach of a train station. Guide profiles list their dates and prices.

Newmillerdam is the easiest first visit, with a car park by the lake and a level path around the water. Hardcastle Crags has National Trust car parks at Midgehole and Clough Hole, and Hebden Bridge station is a couple of miles away on foot or by bus.