The Arnside and Silverdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) straddles the Cumbria-Lancashire border. It is best known for its low limestone hills, including Arnside Knott, its ancient woods and salt marshes. Lying at the heart of the AONB is the Gait Barrows National Nature Reserve, where visitors will find limestone pavement and rare species such as the lady’s-slipper orchid, high brown fritillary butterflies and bitterns.
The AONB, one of the smallest in the country, is criss-crossed by public rights of way and waymarked trails. For cyclists, the 81-mile Bay Cycle Way skirts the coastal edge of the AONB on its way from Walney Island, near Barrow-in-Furness, to Glasson Dock, south of Lancaster.
