7 Forests to Explore in Bedfordshire

a perfect day out for the family! It brings up to 30% tree cover, transforming the landscape and making it a thriving place to live, work and play. The Forest of Marston Vale is one of twelve of community forest projects in the United Kingdom. The total area covered is 61 square miles, but most of this land is in private ownership. There are incentives for landowners to plant trees, and the target for community forests, in general, is to reach 30% tree cover.

Heartwood Forest is an extraordinary and special place that has transformed a vast area of former farmland in London’s greenbelt. It is home to over half a million new saplings, stunning ancient woodland, a native arboretum and a community orchard. Incredibly, it takes just 12 years to turn bare land into flourishing native woodland, complete with a diverse range of wildlife and towering trees.

The National Trust Ashridge Estate is a huge area of woodlands and downland near Berkhamsted with many walking and cycling routes and a visitor centre with shop and cafe. There is a year-round programme of guided walks and events.

Paxton Pits Nature Reserve is a rich area of wildlife habitats in the heart of the Ouse Valley covering 78 hectares of lovely lakes, riverside, meadow, reedbed, scrub, grassland and woodland. It offers a great learning experience for visiting education and community groups as well as families - including a chance to get up close to local wildlife on the surrounding nature reserve throughout the year.

RSPB The Lodge nature reserve and gardens is one of the best places in the county to visit wildlife friendly gardens in attractive natural landscapes. Gardeners will enjoy the beautiful gardens around The Lodge, which are the UK headquarters of the Royal Society for the Protections of Birds. The reserve sits on the Greensand Ridge, overlooking the River Ivel valley and includes areas of broadleaved and coniferous woodland.

This is a really nice place, full of nature if you fancy a round trip walk. It's about 2 miles and if you get a good pace on, it takes you about an hour.. This large, ex-gravel pit is made up of a main-lake with gently sloping banks, shallow areas of water and ponds, low lying islands, a large scrape, and a fringe of reeds surrounded by grassland and wet woodland.

This is a huge nature reserve made up of five connected wildlife sites. This extensive series of shallow and deep open waters are surrounded with a wide range of marginal features, such as sparsely vegetated islands, gravel bars and shorelines, and habitats including reed swamp, marsh and so more. It is also a birdwatcher's paradise and The reserve forms part of a Site of Special Scientific Interest, and is managed by The Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire.