Kielder Water & Forest Park

England's largest man-made lake set within its largest working forest, with cycling and walking trails, watersports, wildlife cruises and some of the darkest skies in the country.

Address:

Kielder, Hexham, NE48 1BT
Call:
01434 220616

Hours:

Always open

Map

About

Kielder Water & Forest Park is vast: northern Europe's largest man-made lake, wrapped in England's largest forest — over 150 million trees across around 250 square miles. It's been named the most tranquil place in England, and it has some of the darkest night skies in the country, which is why Kielder Observatory is here.

The Lakeside Way runs about 26 miles around the shore and is shared by walkers, cyclists and riders, with more than twenty pieces of outdoor art along the way. A favourite shorter route is the six-mile Bull Crag circular from Kielder Waterside. The forest is also home to around half of England's native red squirrels, so keep your eyes open.

Good to know

The park is free to enter, but there are parking charges; tickets can be used across the main car parks. The three main hubs are Tower Knowe (the first you reach from Bellingham), Kielder Waterside (lodges, a pool, The Forest Bar & Kitchen and the Bird of Prey Centre) and Kielder village at the top of the lake. Check ahead whether Kielder Castle's visitor centre is open before planning around it. Dogs are welcome on the trails, and mobile signal is patchy, so download maps before you go.

A Little Note From Heather & Sand

We haven't quite made it here ourselves yet, but it's on our list!

We're working our way around Northumberland, personally visiting and reviewing as many of the places featured in our Listed section as we can. It's a tough job, but somebody has to do it.

In the meantime, we do our homework. Before adding somewhere to Heather & Sand, we research it, look at what other visitors have to say and check that it has a good reputation. If the feedback isn't encouraging, it generally doesn't make our list.

Of course, a little online research is no substitute for muddy boots, a decent coffee and seeing somewhere for ourselves. So until we've visited, we'll leave the personal review to one side.

A little about us...

Heather & Sand is our little corner of Northumberland — a collection of places, stories, walks and discoveries from a county we love.

Through our Journal, Guide and Listed pages, we hope to help you discover somewhere new, revisit an old favourite or simply enjoy a little Northumberland from wherever you happen to be.

Tom, Lucy & the Heather & Sand crew.