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The Aire and Calder Navigation consists of a number of discrete sections of canalised river, which enable boats of a reasonable size to reach Leeds. It was developed gradually from 1699 until the mid-19th century, with the involvement of many famous civil engineers such as John Smeaton, John Rennie, Thomas Telford and George Leather. Locks were being enlarged right up to the 1960s. The original intention was to give Leeds a proper ship canal capable of taking seagoing vessels, like Manchester's, but that never happened. However it is capable of taking boats up to 200ft long, 20ft wide and with 8ft draught - considerably larger than most English canals.

Unlike narrow canals it didn't see the complete abandonment of commercial use in the late 20th century: parts of it were used regularly for delivering coal to Ferrybridge Power Station until the early years of the 21st century and there is still a modest amount of commercial traffic. The coal traffic used a unique system of trains of small 'tubs' towed by a tug.

The extant sections in the Aire valley are 7.6km parallel to the river Aire between Knowsthorpe (Knostrop) and just below Woodlesford, 1.1km downstream of the confluence of the Aire and Calder at Castleford, and the longest section, c.30 km from Ferrybridge down to Goole Docks, originally called the Knottingley and Goole Canal, where it joins the Ouse downstream of its confluence with the Aire. There is also a 13km branch up the lower Calder valley from Castleford to near Wakefield, where it joins the Calder and Hebble Navigation.

Sources consulted include 'Civil Engineering Heritage: Northern England' (M.F.Barbey, 1981) and the Canal and River Trust website Link

The trail was launched in the early 1980's, a route circumnavigating the City of Leeds keeping generally to the countryside but no more than 7 miles from the centre.
In 2006 the southern section was drastically altered. It originally ran through chunks of Wakefield including Stanley, Outwood and Wrenthorpe. The trail was realigned to stay entirely in the Leeds authority. For those who feel they have missed out, a Wakefield Way was created, somewhat belatedly in 2005.
The route starts and finishes at Golden Acre Park, and stretches roughly 60 miles. In a clockwise direction it passes Eccup, the filming set for Emmerdale before entering the Harewood Estate. It then heads east to Bardsey, Scarcroft and Thorner. Creeping southwards it passes the enormous maypole at Barwick-in-Elmet, then through Scholes and onto Garforth. Swillington and Little Preston are negotiated before reaching the marina at Fleet Bridge on the Aire and Calder Navigation. Onto Mickletown, Methley and Carlton in the heart of the Rhubarb Triangle. Over the M1 and onto East Ardsley, Woodkirk to pass over the M62. Now edging north west the trail passes through Gildersome, down Cockersdale to Tong. Onwards below Fulneck, skirting Pudsey, following Fagley Beck to finally cross the Leeds and Liverpool Canal at Apperley Bridge. The path skirts Horsforth, over Hunger Hills, around the edge of Cookridge to complete the circle by crossing Breary Marsh to Golden Acre.