Colwick Country Park

What it’s like

Let them loose on the lakeside playground, then walk or cycle the flat waterside paths - free park entry.

Colwick Country Park sits about 4km east of Nottingham city centre, wrapped around two big lakes (the 24-acre West Lake and 65-acre Main Lake) plus a marina and wildlife areas, good for spotting butterflies, dragonflies and winter wildfowl. The playground near the main drive is built largely from refurbished, reused equipment and suits kids from toddler age up to about 10, and it's handily placed next to the toilet block.

There's plenty to fill a whole day: flat paths for walking or cycling (a 2-mile waterside route, or a longer 3-mile self-guided walk out to Colwick Hall), geocaching, orienteering with downloadable maps, bird watching, horse riding and ranger-led activities. Coarse fishing is allowed year-round on the West Lake and Old Trout Lake (day tickets from the kiosk, open 9am-4pm), and the West Lake also hosts the Nottingham City Open Water Swimming Centre from April to October, but swimming elsewhere in the park, and boats/inflatables, are not allowed. Every Saturday at 9am there's a free 5km Parkrun from Mile End Road.

For practicalities: entry to the park is free. There's a free car park at the end of Racecourse Road (NG2 4BH) and another off Daleside Road East (NG2 4DX); the River Road car park (NG4 2EW, off Mile End Road) charges £2 cash only, 9am-4pm. It's also on a key regional cycle route. Note that the main toilet block was closed at time of writing due to a water supply fault, with portable toilets available 24/7 in the meantime, when the main block is open, hours are 9am-3:30pm daily. Dogs are welcome throughout.

Facilities

Plan your visit

Experiences

• Coarse Fishing

  Coarse fishing permitted at West Lake, Old Trout Lake, The Loop, The Marina and The River Trent (above the sluice), with appropriate ticket required. Tickets available from a kiosk off River Road, open 09:00-16:00.

• Colwick Country Park Cycle and Walking Route

  A waterside walking and cycling route, distance 2 miles (4 km).

• Colwick Country Park Self-Guided Walk

  A walking route skirting Trout Lake and West Lake out to Colwick Hall and back, about 3 miles (5 km) in total.

• Colwick Parkrun

  Free 5km timed run, jog or walk taking place every Saturday at 9am at Mile End Road, NG4 2DT.

• Nottingham City Open Water Swimming Centre

  Open water swimming sessions run at the West Lake from April to October each year by WholeHealth.

• Orienteering

  Navigational activity using a map and compass to find control points, with orienteering maps created for the park.

Areas to explore

• Main Lake

  65 acre lake at the park.

• Old Trout Lake

  Formerly a trout-fishing-only lake, now open for coarse fishing, lightly fished and recovering from a 2021 oxygen-crash fish kill.

• Playground

  ages 1-10 · outdoors

  Playground near the toilet block on the main drive, made largely from refurbished and reused equipment from the previous play area. Offers activities for children between toddlers and 10 years old.

• The Loop

  Fishing water containing smaller silver fish and pike, fishable only during the fishing season.

• West Lake

  24 acre lake, home to the Nottingham City Open Water Swimming Centre from April to October and designated an 'Excellent' DEFRA Bathing Water. Also used for coarse fishing year round.

Also on site

• Marina

  Moorings for up to 224 craft, managed by on-site wardens. Facilities include waste disposal, pump out, slippage and a gated entrance with key access for boat owners. Accessible only to boat owners.

  Accessibility: Only accessible to boat owners

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