The outdoor experts at Blacks teamed up with Ordnance Survey to analyse which of the UK’s most populated cities and towns have the greatest access to outdoor activities in a bid to urge Brits to explore the wonders of the UK outdoors.
This campaign was produced after survey results from 1,500 people revealed what the current barriers are that are stopping them from getting outdoors.
The campaign was brought to life as Blacks invited members of the public to join them for a free guided hike along the Bamford Edge Circular route. The hike was completely accessible by public transport, and started less than 30 minutes away from Sheffield city centre.
Key campaign insights:
You’re probably closer to adventure than you think: A 90-minute journey opens up a huge range of outdoor options. Manchester is named the most accessible city for outdoor adventures, with a score of 9.75/10 and more than 363,000 outdoor routes/locations accessible by car. Sheffield, Swindon, Watford and York also make up the rest of the top five.
Manchester is the standout all-rounder city for outdoor adventures: It combines exceptional access to walking, camping and swimming, including 195 campsites, 99 wild swimming spots and 363,552 OS Maps walking routes by car. Crucially, it also performs strongly without a car, with almost 112,000 outdoor options reachable by public transport within 90 minutes.
The best destination depends on your kind of adventure: The rankings reveal different strengths. Sheffield is particularly strong for camping, Watford for wild swimming, York for campsites, while Warrington is the best location for car-based adventures and London leads for public-transport access.
Time, weather and cost are the main barriers to people getting outdoors: 39% of people say weather stops them spending more time outdoors, 22% cite lack of time and 19% the cost of travel/access. Over half (51%) of respondents tried a new outdoor activity in the past year, suggesting strong demand for adventure.
Blacks used OS Maps to analyse the accessibility of outdoor spaces from the UK’s 50 most populated cities and towns. They measured how many campsites, wild swimming spots and OS Maps walking routes could be reached within 90 minutes by car and public transport.
The analysis covered six accessibility metrics, with each metric normalised to a score of 0-10 before calculating an overall score. For public transport, journey times included walking connections and access to and from stations or stops.
Campsite and route data were provided by Ordnance Survey, while wild swimming locations were sourced from Wild Open Water. Travel-time analysis was conducted by Ordnance Survey using 90-minute isochrones.
Natalie Wolfenden, outdoor enthusiast and Author at Blacks, comments: “The outdoors has a unique ability to help us slow down, reset and reconnect, yet many people are surprised by just how much nature is within easy reach of where they live. That’s what inspired our ’90 Minutes to Nature’ campaign, which highlights inspiring outdoor spaces that can be accessed in 90 minutes or less from towns and cities across the UK.
‘Whether it’s a scenic walk, a wild swimming spot or a weekend camping destination, the campaign is designed to make discovering new places feel more achievable. We know there can be barriers that prevent people from spending time outdoors, from transport and cost to simply knowing where to go, and we hope this research helps provide both inspiration and practical starting points.
“At Blacks, we’re committed to helping people make the most of their time outside. Alongside quality outdoor kit, our customers value the trusted advice and expertise our teams provide, giving them the confidence to explore somewhere new and enjoy every adventure, whatever form it takes.”
