20 Attractions to Explore Near Dean Forest Railway

Taurus Crafts is a vibrant visitor centre where you can see a wide range of arts and crafts. Throughout the year, there are opportunities to discover your own creativity, As well as being the home to a fantastic range of independent businesses, we run two shops with a mixed ability team.

Mallards Pike Lake is in the centre of the Forest of Dean and is a beautiful lake surrounded by woodland. The lake is a hub of activity, with something for everyone, such as big family picnic areas, Go Ape, watersports, family cycling trails, parkruns and Gruffalo Orienteering for kids.

Mallards Pike Lake is in the center of the Forest of Dean and is a beautiful lake surrounded by woodland. This is an ideal starting point for a walk or bike ride. This is the main location for Go Ape, the family cycle trail passes by here and there's a fab cafe too. One of the iconic attractions to relax and also you can spend some beautiful time with your loved ones in the center of greenery.

At Clearwell Caves you discover the hidden world the miners created, as they dug through impressive natural caverns to remove iron ore and ochre pigment. The caves are part of a Natural England designated Site of Special Scientific Interest and the notification includes parts of Clearwell along with Old Bow, Lambsquay and Old Ham mine complexes.

A beautiful two large ponds, which offers a large flat grassed area close to the car park and next to the ponds. It was home to lots of wildlife including mandarin ducks, awards, and dragonflies. The top pond is a wildlife trust nature reserve.

St Briavel’s was an important royal castle on the frontier with Wales and the administrative and judicial centre of the Forest of Dean – a royal hunting ground where the game was protected and the king alone allowed to hunt. It was originally built between 1075 and 1129 as a royal administrative centre for the Forest of Dean. During the 13th century the castle became first a favourite hunting lodge of King John, and then the primary centre in England for the manufacture of quarrels, large numbe

Perrygrove Railway is a fantastic family attraction based in the forest of dean, offering a great day out on our railway lines, picnic facilities and treetop adventure and so more. The railway was inspired by the minimum gauge estate railways or British narrow gauge railways developed by Sir Arthur Heywood at the end of the 19th century, including his pioneering Duffield Bank Railway and the later Eaton Hall Railway.

Puzzlewood is an attraction suitable for all ages. The site, covering 14 acres (5.7 ha), shows evidence of open cast iron ore mining dating from the Roman period, and possibly earlier. The area contains strange rock formations, secret caves and ancient trees, with a confusing maze of paths.

The Dean Heritage Centre is located in the valley of Soudley, Gloucestershire, England. Discover the history of the Forest in a grade 2 listed mill building nestled in a valley in the heart of the glorious Forest of Dean. Explore our beautiful five-acre site and experience for yourself the splendour of the Forest that surrounds us.

This is the house where Edward Jenner, pioneer of vaccination against smallpox, lived and told the world about his work. Less than 200 years later, smallpox had been eradicated, with countless lives saved in the process. Today you can see Jenner’s Study, explore his garden, including the historic Vinery and the modern Physic Garden, and stand in the Temple of Vaccinia, where Jenner vaccinated the people of Berkeley free of charge.

Hopewell is a working coal mine managed by Rich Daniels, a freeminer of the forest. It offers a unique visitor experience in that you can actually visit the mine workings. See how coal, the power source of Britain for many centuries, is mined. Understand the extreme conditions that miners have to work in and so more.

Beechenhurst lies in the heart of the Forest of Dean, one of Britain's oldest and largest woodlands. It is the ideal place for families to start their forest adventure, with a Gruffalo Spotters trail, Sculpture Trail, play area, Go Ape Tree Top Adventure and climbing tower. The play area at Beechenhurst has a host of wooden play equipment for your kids to enjoy. There is a separate toddler area for our younger visitors.

This 4.5 mile long Sculpture Trail was one of the first to open in the UK which was established in 1986. It provides a unique opportunity to walk through the woodlands and discover art along the way. The Sculpture Trail links several different site-specific sculptures commissioned for the forest. It is open from dawn to dusk every day of the year.

Cannop Cycle Centre is a small woodland cycling centre, comprising mountain bike trails, a visitor centre, car parks and uplift service. It is located on the former site of Cannop Colliery in the Cannop Valley, Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire. The nearest village is Parkend, 3 miles away. The cycling centre has been an active supporter of the Hands off our Forest campaign and hosted a 'cycle protest rally' in January 2011.

WWT Slimbridge is a wetland reserve situated close to Slimbridge village near to Dursley, Gloucestershire. It was the first Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT) to be opened. Many water birds live there all year round, and others are migrants on their ways to and from their summer breeding grounds. Other birds overwinter, including large numbers of white-fronted geese and increasing numbers of Bewick's swans.

Littledean Jail in the Forest of Dean is a unique visitor attraction and home to the crime through time collection and the quadropehnia collection. Behind the austere gatehouse entrance, the prison, with it’s formidable sandstone façade remains much as it was when first built. Steeped in history and infamy, its awesome appearance provides a stark reminder of the hard labour and craftsmanship needed to build this architecturally important jailhouse.

Westbury Court Garden is a Dutch water garden in Westbury-on-Severn, Gloucestershire, England, 9 miles southwest of Gloucester. The garden was designed 1695-1705. The house has gone but the garden survives and has the reputation of being one of the best examples of the 'Dutch Style in England' and of a 'Dutch canal garden'.

The Stroudwater Navigation in the Cotswolds is an 8 mile stretch of canal with 12 locks along the route. It is a canal managed by the Cotswold Canal Trust. These are a group of volunteers who are actively working on restoring the canal to its former glory.

The Gloucester & Sharpness Canal was once the broadest and deepest in the world. Even today, it stands out from other navigations because of its sheer scale and impressive engineering. With huge swing-bridges and pretty bridge-keepers’ houses to pass along the way, you’ll never be short of landmarks or beautiful viewpoints.

King Arthurs Cave is a limestone cave, which is one of only five English caves known to have been used in both the Early and Late Upper Palaeolithic periods. The cave is situated at the foot of a low cliff at the north-western end of Lord's Wood on the hill of Great Doward at Whitchurch near the River Wye. It consists of a broad entrance platform, a double interconnected entrance and two main chambers.