Nature Trail | Denham Country Park

Now, you all know by now how much we love a trail, so when we saw a map of the nature trail at Denham Country Park, it just had to be done. I have previously written about Denham Country Park and it’s fabulous playground, so do check out that post for more information. This post will focus on the trail only, that Tyler and I did on our own this time. It’s a 2km trail that is very scenic and we only got lost once, haha. There are 10 brass rubbings to find which makes the trail more interactive – remember to bring paper and a pencil to do them.

Denham Country Park Nature Trail

Denham Country Park

These are the details for the Denham Country Park:

Address: Denham Court Drive, Denham, Uxbridge UB9 5PG

Parking: The car park is on Denham Court Drive – a long and windy country road. There are two car parks, one on the left and one on the right. The one on the right has more spaces. Parking costs £3.70 for 3 hours (£2.70 in off-peak season), and it is open everyday until 7pm.

Toilets: Yes by the cafe/visitor centre (open 11am – 3pm everyday).

Food: Cafe at Colne Valley Visitor Centre. Fran’s Tea Rooms at Denham Deep Lock.

Pushchair-friendly: There are no steps, although the path by the canal is narrow. It might be tricky but I think you could do it with a pushchair, the wheels might get muddy though.

Map

I have updated the map with where we found the brass rubbings, and where the path actually went. We found 9 out of the 10 brass rubbings, so there is 1 more mystery one somewhere on the route. I have to add, I’m not sure how old these brass rubbings are, but some had birds poop on, so we used our hand sanitiser regularly.

1 – Butterfly
2 – Reedmace
3 – Kingfisher
4 – Duck
5 – Heron
6 – Coot
7 – Robin
8 – Cuckoo Flower
9 – Damsonfly

The Nature Trail

The nature trail starts at the totem pole by the overflow car park. You will see 3 paths. With the totem pole on your left, take the path in front of you (the middle one), where you have to open a gate. After the gate, walk along this path and you’ll see the first brass rubbing after a few minutes.

1 – Butterfly

You will see cows in the meadow on your left. Keep walking for a few more minutes until you see the next marker on your right.

2- Reedmace

After the second marker, you will see a gate coming up (the footpath coloured yellow on the map meets at this gate). Here you will find the third marker.

3 – Kingfisher

Go on to the bridge in front of you. This will take you over the River Colne. The bridge is very narrow.

At the other side of the bridge is the Grand Union Canal. Here, turn LEFT towards Denham Deep Lock.

There’s a lovely atmosphere here as there are a lot of boats, some playing music on the day we were there. Tyler wanted to sit and watch the people work the lock, so we were here maybe 10/15 minutes. I had my Pokemon Go to occupy me – by the way, there are so many Pokestops on this trail… if you play it, you’ll know what I mean!

Next to this lock is Fran’s Tea Rooms, which is open Weds – Sundays 10.30am -5.30pm.

Look at all the seating in the garden (We did the trail on a Tuesday so it was closed).

On with the trail, we carried on walking up the Grand Union Canal but could not see any brass rubbings. I used my Pokemon Go app to help, as some of the brass rubbings were Pokestops on their map!

We reached a bridge and turned left before it onto a wooden footbridge. At the start of the wooden footbridge is the fourth marker.

4 – Duck

This is the part of the map where you are doing a U-turn. At the end of the footbridge, turn left.

Walk along the path, through the trees and the path bends. Here we found our fifth brass rubbing.

5 – Heron

After the heron, we kept walking and saw a bridge. Just before the bridge was the sixth brass rubbing.

6 – Coot

After the bridge (where Tyler was reading about a lost dog), the path forks into two. The one straight ahead led into what looked like a building site. We turned on to the path on the left and it led to the 7th brass rubbing

7 – Robin

The trail continues to the right. If you decide to turn left (this is the yellow path on the map), you will see some lovely scenery of the pond/lake, with quite a few viewing platforms. The meadows will be to your right with brown cows chilling in the grass. It is all very pretty.

Right, back with the trail. Turn right at Robin and keep walking. You will find the eighth marker.

8 – Cuckoo Flower

And then finally at the end, close to the gate and the totem pole is the ninth marker.

9 – Damsonfly

We do like a challenge, and Tyler was very happy. He wants to come back with Lily as he thinks she will like watching the boats at the lock. And I think their Dada will like the walk too, it’s perfect for families. The trail took us 2 hours because we took one wrong turn, we watched the lock and were playing Pokemon Go. But if you are just doing the trail, I’d say it would take 1 hour max.

When we came home, Tyler made a little collage with of his brass rubbings as a keepsake. Cool, isn’t it 🙂