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Love Autumn
Summer might be over but exploring the park isn't. Read about all the exciting thing to see and do this autumn.
Sep 1
Spotlight on autumn wildlife
The autumn flora and fauna highlights in Lee Valley Regional Park.
Sep 1
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River Lee Country Park
See our different entrances on our 'Plan your visit tab' below
Never sleeps, open 24 hours a day
River Lee Country Park stretches between Waltham Abbey in Essex and Broxbourne in Hertfordshire, this 1,000 acre park has a huge variety of activities to enjoy
Contact us
03000 030 610
Facilities
Nestled along the board of Hertfordshire and Essex is our 1,000 acre park, River Lee Country Park. Made up of wide open spaces, wildlife havens, sporting venues, farm land and a myriad of water and walk ways, there’s 100s of great days out you can have in this one area of the park.
Are you a nature lover? The open spaces in the parkland create a range of different habitats from wetlands to woodlands. Along the river you might spot Kingfisher or amongst the reeds Water Rail and Bittern. Amongst the branches you will find crowds of Long Tail Tit and in the spring the distinct call of the Nightingale. Cornmill Meadows is buzzing during the summer months as a Dragonfly Sanctuary where you can see Hairy and Emperor Dragonfly as well as the Branded Demoiselle. Silvermeade in Broxbourne is our key location for Water Vole and if you’re lucky you might catch sight of one or hear it as it ‘pops’ into the water. The jewel in the crown of our wildlife watching is the Wildlife Discovery Centre. Visitors enter through the discovery room where they can learn all about the wildlife in the park and the head up the tower to get views over Seventy Acre Lake and the reed bed. Once back on the ground, you can enjoy watching the flitting birds from the wide windows.
If sport is your thing, you can enjoy getting the most out of outdoor fitness with miles of walking, running and cycling routes. There’s many different waterbodies in the park and plenty of water sports for you get involved in from the extremes of the white water rapids at Lee Valley White Water Centre to sailing at Fishers Green Sailing Club and rowing along the river at Broxbourne Rowing Club. You can see all the different sporting venues in the Things to Do Nearby Tab. If you’re just beginning your wellbeing journey our Active Communities team have a range of different activities to get involved in from Life Walks to Sensory walks as well as some new and exciting activities on the horizon.
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There’s many historic sites even in this small area of the park. Waltham Abbey Gardens dates to the 7th century and is one of the largest Augustinian abbeys in the country. This has seen kings from Harold Godwinson to Henry VIII and now the King Charles. Just down the road is Royal Gunpowder Mills. Formerly the site of gunpowder manufacture is now a wonderful historic site with open space and nature now calling it home. Visitors can visit on select days through the year and enjoy their iconic fireworks for Bonfire Night. In the north of River Lee Country Park is Rye House Gatehouse. This was one of the first brick-built houses in the country and has been the setting for tales of treason and ghost stories. This great place is open for select days from spring to autumn by our knowledgeable volunteers.
There's also lots of family friendly days, whether you’re heading to Lee Valley Animal Adventure Park to see the farm animals or enjoy and action pack day out on one of their event days to enjoying a bit of disc golf in the open spaces. All of the key areas come together to make great days out for family and friends so start planning your next day out today.
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