Visiting Rushcliffe Country Park
Content
Visiting the park
Opening Times
The park is accessible all year round, but the visitor centre and toilets may not be available over the Christmas period.
- Visitor centre 8 am to 4 pm daily
- Log cabin toilets 9 am to 6 pm daily
- Compost toilets 9 am to 3 pm daily
- Changing Places accessible toilet 8 am to 4 pm daily
- Takeaway café open 10 am to 4 pm daily (opening times vary seasonally)
Parking
Car park 8 am - 6 pm. Once inside, you can leave at any time via the exit gate.
Access to the park is free. The car park is £1.50 for up to 3 hours and £3 for over 3 hours.
If you are a regular visitor, you may like an annual parking pass. To purchase one, apply online at Parking Season Tickets: Broxtowe Borough Council.
Accessibility
The park is accessible to wheelchair users via the car park. The paths around the lake are flat, with minor slopes around the rest of the Country Park. Toilets are available with disabled access.
A National Key Scheme (NKS) RADAR key opens several gates around the park allowing you to enter and exit at any time. Please lock the gate behind you.
A Changing Places toilet facility is now available in the visitors' centre, allowing park users with mobility challenges to change at the site more easily, ensuring even greater access for those with profound and multiple disabilities.
Food and Drink
Coffee and Cake by the Lake, the site’s new takeaway café is now open 10 am - 4 pm daily (opening times vary seasonally) hosting a wide selection of teas, coffees, cakes and hot and cold light bites including paninis, jacket potatoes and ice cream.
Tree Top Catering offer hot and cold drinks, ice cream and takeaway food from the play area.
You are free to bring a picnic with you and there are plenty of benches and tables for you to use.
BBQs of any kind are not allowed on the park.
Bookable conference room
The bookable conference room boasts integrated guest Wi-Fi, digital display screen and a polycom device to enable video conferencing and a fully adaptable meeting space for up to 30 people.
An ideal venue for business away days, education providers and environmental groups or talks and general community activity groups.
Visitors' centre
The visitors’ centre atrium is now home to an interactive touchscreen history of the park, developed in conjunction with the Friends of Rushcliffe Country Park, charting its history and development over time. It also has information about the wildlife found on the park and you can pick up a bag of bird seed or an interactive trail leaflet for just 50p each.
Investments at Rushcliffe Country Park
We've invested in a series of developments at the Country Park to improve facilities and enhance the visitor experience. Hear from our Cabinet Member Cllr Jonathan Wheeler and other park users about what they think to the latest investments at the Country Park.
History of Rushcliffe Country Park
Before World War Two, the Rushcliffe Country Park site was open farmland. Hedgerows bounded arable fields and grassland with a small stream flowing through. This provided a rich habitat for a wide range of wildlife. Local people visited to relax in the peaceful surroundings.
The War Office needed ‘filling factories’ for making bombs and acquired the land in 1938. It was an ideal site, close to a railway, a supply of workers and had a water source. The factory consisted 87 buildings spread over the site. After D-Day the site had many uses including renting space to Taylor Woodrow.
Over the years, government departments changed and the site was named Ordnance, Storage and Disposal Depot. The ministry announced the closure of the depot in 1981 and sold surplus stock. The gates closed and locked on 31 December 1983.
Returning the land to agriculture was Ruddington Parish Council’s preferred option. The land was in the Green Belt, but there were rumours about other uses. As time passed, nature took over and wildlife returned. A country park was proposed, and a business park to make the site financially viable.
Demolition began in January 1990 leaving a flat site like an ‘American prairie’. The lake was dug out; Severn Trent filled it with water. Workers and volunteers planted over 140,000 trees. Workers moved 60 Norwegian Maple trees (30 years old at the time) and re-planted around the business park.
Nottinghamshire County Council purchased the land and leased it to Rushcliffe Borough Council. The Country Park opened on 27 August 1993, and looked sparse at first. But over time, it has matured and holds a wide diversity of plants and animals.
Read the full Bombs to Butterflies story
Awards Received by Rushcliffe Country Park
Green Flag
Rushcliffe Country Park is one of the best in the country. The park won its first Green Flag Award in 2007 and has continued this success every year since. This is a sign that the park is well-maintained and well-managed, with excellent facilities.
Country Park Accredited
Trip Advisor
Certificate of Excellence Winner.
Nottingham Local Favourite
Top 10 things to do and see in Nottingham.