Hare Park Junction is situated to the north-east of the Parish of Walton with road access via Crofton. A public footpath runs from Anglers Country Park to Hare Park Junction and then on to Shay Lane, joining it by Goldwing Farm at the Nine Arches Railway Viaduct. The footpath crosses the railway line near Hare Park Junction, this line is primarily used for goods trains.
Hare Park Junction is where the main line from Leeds and Wakefield Westgate is joined by the goods line, which also joins the line from Wakefield Kirkgate nearer towards Wakefield.
Once upon a time when railways proliferated, both of these lines were operated by the West Riding and Grimsby Railway. This was was a joint railway linking Wakefield and Doncaster. The companies involved in the joint company were the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway and the Great Northern.
The line was inherited by the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) in 1923, and the Wakefield Westgate section is still the main route for the East Coast Main Line from Doncaster to Leeds, as well as carrying trains from Sheffield to Leeds. Of course, British Railways, the Great North Eastern Railway (GNER), Northern Spirit, Arriva Trains and Virgin Cross Country have all come and gone on this line over the years. The current main line train operators (2009) are National Express for East Coast Main Line, and Cross Country (XC) for trains from Leeds and further north to the Midlands and further south. Local trains are run by Northern.
The station at Hare Park & Crofton was situated just to the east of the junction of the two lines; it no longer exists. The station was opened in November 1885 and closed on 4th February 1968. Its re-opening in the near future seems unlikely.
Hare Park Woods, Hare Park Farm with neighbouring New House Farm are located on the outskirts of Walton close to the boundary with the Parish of Crofton.
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