Gisburn is the largest forest in Lancashire and has a 16km cycle network, whilst Delamere Forest Park is the largest wooded area in Cheshire and covers over 950 hectares.

Delamere is also home to Go Ape! – a challenging high-wire adventure course with rope bridges, Tarzan swings and zip slides up to 40 feet above the forest floor.

Whinlatter Forest Park in Cumbria has become well known as the host for England’s only breeding pair of Ospreys, whilst nearby Grizedale is famed for its sculpture trails. It is also home to the region’s first purpose-built mountain bike trail, which opened in 2006.

Borrowdale and Thirlmere Woods, also in Cumbria, and the pine woodlands of Formby on the Sefton Coast, are some of the few remaining places left in the country where the endangered native Red Squirrel can be seen.