A route was first devised by Fred Andrews of the Ramblers Association, and then developed by West Yorkshire County Council in the early 1980s.

[3][4] The Leeds Country Way was mentioned in the House of Commons when Colin Burgon gave his maiden speech as the newly-elected MP for Elmet: he said "Some hon.

"[5] As of 2025[update] the fastest known time for completion of the Leeds Country Way is 10 h 41m 18s, by runner Chin Yong on 7 May 2021, running unsupported but having cached bottles of water and energy food along the route.

[2] It is waymarked in both directions and can be started at any point, but the city council's documentation describes it in a clockwise direction, starting the A660 road at Golden Acre Park (grid reference SE267417), and the description below follows that pattern, dividing the route into four parts of about 15 miles (24 km), each subdivided into three sections ending at points with road access.

[3] [7] Section 1: the path crosses Golden Acre Park and passes the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust's Adel Dam Nature Reserve, following the route of the Meanwood Valley Trail.

[9] Section 2: after crossing the A61 road, the path passes north of Wike and reaches the village of Bardsey with its Anglo-Saxon church tower and the Bingley Arms public house, which claims to be the oldest in England.

[7] Section 3: the path continues through Thorner, crossing the A64 road before entering Barwick-in-Elmet (SE398376) with England's tallest maypole,[11] a Norman motte and an Iron Age fort.

[15][16] Section 1: from Carlton the path crosses fields before briefly joining the A61 road and recrossing the M1 motorway south of Robin Hood.

[7] Section 3: from here the path skirts Horsforth, follows for a time the southern boundary of Leeds Bradford International Airport, and goes round the northern edge of Cookridge, before crossing Breary Marsh, a local nature reserve,[19] to return to Golden Acre Park (SE267417).