Highnam Woods

Welcome! Whilst the nature reserve here is open at all times, our car park is only open seasonally. Please see the opening times section below for details. Thank you.

Address: RSPB Highnam Woods, A40, Highnam, GL2 8AA

Grid ref: SO778190

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This delightful remnant of ancient woodland is carefully managed to keep a balance between mature trees and traditional coppice. In spring nightingales return to breed amongst the cuckoo flowers, wood anemones and bluebells. In winter, watch resident woodland birds on the feeders at the hide, or search for the elusive hawfinch or lesser spotted woodpecker.

Plan your visit

Car park:

April-September - open at weekends and Bank Holidays only, 10am-4pm. Closed and locked outside of these times.
October-March - closed and locked at all times.

Nature reserve: open to pedestrians at all times.

Free entrance to RSPB members: Yes

Adults: Free

Children: Free

Facilities

Car park
Picnic area
Guided walks is closed
Viewing point
Nature trails

Accessibility

Full accessibility information (external website)

How to get here

By train

Gloucester is the nearest train station. A four mile walk on a public footpath via Over and Highnam avoids roads.

By bus

The bus stop is Highnam Woods. From Gloucester, take the number 33 or 24 (Monday-Saturday), or 325 (Sunday only) Call Traveline on 0871 2002233 for further information.

By bike

Gloucester. A Sustrans route passing close to the reserve is proposed. National Cycle route 42 goes to Highnam Village.

By road

Please note parking is only available for events and for groups by prior arrangement with reserve staff. Situated 3.75 miles (6 km) west of Gloucester. Take the A40 west from Gloucester signposted to Ross. Proceed along A40 for 1.25 miles, go straight on at the roundabout and continue towards Ross for 0.6 mile. The reserve is on the right. Nearest postcode: GL2 8AA

Sat nav POI file: If you have a satellite navigation system that can accept POI files, please see our POI page for a download link and instructions.

Get directions from Google Maps

View on What3Words

RSPB reserves on Google Earth

Please keep your dog under close, effective control at all times, due to the sensitive wildlife and habitats here. We know that the countryside is a dog walking paradise. It’s important to remember the special surroundings here are wonderful havens for rare wildlife.

Even if dogs are very well behaved, wildlife can easily become startled by a loose dog they perceive as a predator.

Disturbing wildlife does more than simply causing it to move away; it uses up their energy, decreasing their chance of survival regardless of season. Thank you for protecting the special wildlife here by keeping your dog under close, effective control.

• Dogs die in hot cars, please do not leave your dog in the car when visiting us.

Groups welcome for guided or self guided visits, please contact reserve staff for more information.

Due to Covid-19 measures, we are not currently taking school bookings until autumn 2021.

To help you go wild at school, check out our fantastic range of resources for teachers here, or take on the Schools’ Wild Challenge here.

Contact Highnam Woods

RSPB Highnam Woods, A40, Highnam, GL2 8AA
highnam.woods@rspb.org.uk
01594 562852

What will you see?

Our star species

Lesser spotted woodpecker

Britain's rarest breeding woodpecker species is easiest to see and hear at Highnam Woods in early spring.

Marsh tit

Marsh tits can often be seen foraging for food not far from the ground.

Nightingale

Listen for their incredibly rich, musical song in late April and May.

Song thrush

You can hear song thrushes singing from late winter onwards.

Spotted flycatcher

Woodland with large clearings enable them to make their insect-catching flights, so Highnam Woods is ideal.

Hawfinch

Keep an eye out for hawfinches, which now breed at this site.

The woods really come to life in spring with nightingales returning in mid April, you can hear them sing throughout May. Colours continually change along the rides throughout the season as different plants flower in succession

As the sound of birdsong diminishes, the butterflies and dragonflies become the main attraction. Take a wander along the nature reserve and expect to be joined by some of the more common species. Keep your eyes open for white admiral and white letter hairstreak which require a little more patience.

As temperatures cool, keep a look out for resident birds including marsh tit, nuthatch and hawfinch. As you enjoy the changing colours of the trees, keep a look out for the variety of fungi on display too.

Throughout winter, the feeding station forms the centre of bird activity on the reserve. Many species of tits can be seen amongst a variety of familiar garden birds including marsh tits, chaffinches, great spotted woodpeckers and nuthatches.

About Highnam Woods

Habitat

Part of the largest area of ancient woodland in the Severn Vale, with managed rides and glades, dead wood and other key habitat features. There is scrub and coppice habitat for breeding nightingales.

Conservation

We are enhancing the ancient woodland, removing non-native trees and leaving native trees and other flora to develop naturally. We aim to establish a diverse age structure among the trees and manage open space in rides and glades, create dead wood and other key habitat features.
We maintain scrub and coppice as habitat for breeding nightingales, aiming to support 20 singing males a year.
We create deliberately disturbed ground for the rare Tintern (upright) spurge, to ensure this population can continue to flourish throughout the reserve.
We are working to maintain a diversity of habitats for invertebrates. We will leave all naturally forming dead and decaying timber, along with a proportion of any timber felled for management purposes, for the benefit of dead wood species, and will maintain rides and glades by cutting and flailing. We will also leave 20ha of woodland with minimum intervention.
We carry out annual surveys for breeding birds, butterflies, Tintern spurge and to monitor deer impact at the reserve. We encourage and support other research opportunities as appropriate.

Site information

Highnam Woods is home to important birds, plants and invertebrates. The rare Tintern spurge can be seen growing on bare ground along some of the paths June-August.

Activities and events

Activities for children and families

We have some family friendly events throughout the year.

For more information on events and to book tickets, please visit events.rspb.org.uk/highnamwoods

Highnam Woods