Colwick Country Park

WHAT IT’S LIKE

Big lakeside park east of the city with a recycled-equipment playground for toddlers to 10-year-olds, free parking and miles of flat paths for buggies and bikes.

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.