Skylarks Nature Reserve

WHAT IT’S LIKE

A flat, wheelchair- and buggy-friendly gravel-pit reserve near Holme Pierrepont, free to enter, with cafés and toilets a short walk away.

Skylarks is a 47-hectare former gravel pit reserve at Holme Pierrepont, created in 1982 as one of the first nature reserves in the country designed specifically for wheelchair users. It's flat, open at all times, and free to visit, with four designated trails and a 2-mile footpath linking viewing screens and boardwalks past lakes, woodlands, ponds, reed beds, meadows and islands, good for buggies as well as wheelchairs. Kids can look out for great crested grebe, kingfisher, reed bunting, lapwing and little ringed plover, plus cattle grazing the fenced compartments in summer and autumn. A new accessible viewing hide was added in 2023. There are no toilets or café on site itself, but Holme Pierrepont Country Park nearby has both, so it's worth combining a visit. Dogs are welcome on leads, and there's a picnic area on site. Parking is on Adbolton Lane, a small car park at the main entrance to the south of the road, plus a layby on the north side. Occasional events run here too, such as bat walks.