Forest bathing at Croxteth Country Park

Croxteth Country Park is the 500-acre estate of Croxteth Hall, home of the Molyneux family for centuries and given to Liverpool after the death of the 7th Earl of Sefton in 1972. It became a country park in 1979. The woodland, ponds and streams hold kingfishers and water voles, and the park includes Croxteth Local Nature Reserve, which began as Mull Wood, Liverpool's first local nature reserve. The Mersey Forest describes the landscape as little changed in over a century.

Park at the free car park off Muirhead Avenue East and Oak Lane. Paths are mostly level and well surfaced, so this is one of the easiest places in Merseyside for a long, slow walk among trees. The hall, farm, cafés and play areas are busy at weekends; the woods further from the courtyard are much calmer. There is an adventure course in part of the woodland, so choose paths away from it. The car park gates are locked in the evening.