Leighton Moss

Welcome! We’re continuing to follow government guidance to make your visit safe and enjoyable. See our Covid-19 updates page for the latest information (link below). In line with government recommendations, we ask that all visitors, unless exempt, continue to wear a face covering in our indoor spaces, including hides. Please also #RespectProtectEnjoy the special wildlife here and each other, by keeping to the paths, being mindful of other people’s space, following signage on-site and directions from our friendly team. Thank you.
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Address
RSPB Leighton Moss, Myers Farm, Storrs Lane, Silverdale, Carnforth LA5 0SW
Grid ref
SD478750
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Covid-19 updates for RSPB nature reserves


Leighton Moss boasts the largest reed bed in north-west England and is home to a wide range of spectacular wildlife including otters, bearded tits, marsh harriers, egrets and red deer. See for yourself! 

Plan your visit

Opening times

  • Nature reserve: open daily, dawn-dusk.
  • Main car park: open daily, dawn-dusk.
  • Accessible car park: open daily, dawn-dusk.
  • Allen and Eric Morecambe car park: open daily, dawn-dusk.
  • Visitor Centre: open daily, 9.30am-5pm (9.30am-4.30pm, December-January).
  • Shop: open daily, 9.30am-5pm (9.30am-4.30pm, December-January).
  • Café: open daily, 9.30am-5pm (9.30am-4.30pm, December-January).
  • Toilets: open daily, 9.30am-5pm (9.30am-4.30pm, December-January).
  • Christmas Eve: nature reserve and car parks open, dawn-dusk. Visitor centre, shop, café and toilets open, 9.30am-3pm.
  • Christmas Day: nature reserve, visitor centre, shop, café and toilets closed.
  • Boxing Day: nature reserve and car parks open, dawn-dusk. Visitor centre, shop, café and toilets open, 9.30am-4.30pm.
  • New Year’s Eve: nature reserve and car parks open, dawn-dusk. Visitor centre, shop, café and toilets open, 9.30am-3pm.
  • New Year’s Day: nature reserve and car parks open dawn-dusk. Visitor centre, shop, café and toilets open, 9.30am-4.30pm.
  • All other days in the festive period are open our usual winter opening hours as above.

Entrance charges

Free entrance to RSPB members
Yes
Adults
£9
Children
£4.50 (5-17 years)
Free entrance for first child
Free entrance for under 5s
Student
£6
Free entrance for carers
Yes
Other discounts
  • Half price entry for non-members arriving by public transport or bicycle.
  • Everyone can enter the cafe and visitor centre for free.

Facilities

  • Visitor centre
  • Car park
  • Toilets
  • Accessible toilets
  • Baby changing
  • Pushchair friendly
  • Café
  • Picnic area
  • Binocular hire
  • Guided walks
  • Viewing point
  • Nature trails
  • Shop
  • Educational facilities

Accessibility

How to get here

By train

Silverdale station is on the Manchester Airport/Preston to Barrow line and is only 250 metres from the reserve. Turn left out of the station entrance, then left again and then right.

By bike

National Cycle Route 6, Regional route 90 (Lancashire Cycleway).

By road

Leighton Moss is near the village of Silverdale, just 3km (2 miles) from Carnforth and is signposted from the A6 north of M6 junction 35.

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

Information for dog owners

Dogs are welcome on the Causeway (the public right of way through the middle of Leighton Moss) and the designated dog-friendly path.

The dog-friendly path leads from the visitor centre before emerging onto a road. After a short walk along the road you may join the Causeway, a public bridleway through the middle of the site where dogs are permitted. Well behaved pets are also welcome in the Causeway Hide halfway along the Causeway.

Please keep dogs to these designated routes and rights of way only. When using them, please keep your dog on a lead and under close, effective control at all times.

  • Dog water bowls and shaded tie-up area are available at the back of the visitor centre.
  • Dogs are permitted in the shop and may be brought through the visitor centre to access the dog-friendly trail.
  • Sorry, dogs aren’t permitted in the café other than assistance dogs.
  • There are no dog waste bins on the nature reserve, we ask that you please take dog waste home with you to dispose of.
  • Our team in the visitor centre will be happy to give you further details and directions upon arrival.


Other than the Causeway and dog-friendly route, sorry, dogs are not permitted anywhere else on the nature reserve (except assistance dogs), 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 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 by not exercising your dog on the nature reserve.

Group booking information

Bringing a flock? We welcome group bookings.

Please notify us of your visit in advance. Whether it is to discuss coach or minibus parking arrangements, pre-book tables in our café, arrange a tailored introductory talk or organise a bespoke guided walk for your group, we can ensure that your needs are attended to.

If you are a nature tour leader, we would love to work with you to make the most of your trip for your guests.

For all group visits, please contact us on 01524 701601 or email leighton.moss@rspb.org.uk so we can arrange your visit to your specific requirements.

Schools booking information

For full details on our exciting programme of curriculum-linked outdoor education sessions, visit our school trips information.

Come along to our stunning reserve and bring your classroom learning to life with a selection of fascinating wildlife experiences. Our National Curriculum linked learning sessions are led by qualified, enthusiastic leaders and are designed to support a range of classroom topics to suit all abilities. The reserve has a variety of awe-inspiring habitats including woodland, reedbed, streams ponds as well as a large classroom (The Holt) and award-winning visitor facilities. 

  • We have a number of programmes to choose from for a half or full day visit from Early Years, to Primary and Secondary school and A-Level.
  • We also welcome bookings from uniformed and youth groups and can tailor your visit to suit your needs.
  • To book your visit or to find out more, contact schoolbookings@rspb.org.uk.

Also, check out our fantastic range of resources for teachers, or take on the Schools’ Wild Challenge.

Downloads

Helping you find your way around. PDF, 677Kb

Leighton Moss trail guide

Contact Leighton Moss

Want to restore precious habitats?

An avocet dips its beak into a pool of water to feed amongst a reed bed. The birds reflection is perfectly mirrored in the water.

Habitats such as peatland and saltmarsh are vital. They act as carbon sinks, taking it out of the atmosphere, and are very important in the fight against the nature and climate emergency. They're also great for wildlife. If you donate today, you’ll help these valuable habitats thrive.

Donate today

What will you see?

Our star species

Recent sightings

Avocet Walking on mud at Havergate Island RSPB reserve

Find out about recent wildlife sightings at Leighton Moss.

read more

Nature spectacles

There are amazing sights to see and hear all year round at Leighton Moss. Spring sees the return of breeding marsh harriers when the birds engage in stunning aerial sky dances and the reedbeds come alive with the sound of singing warblers.

Dazzling wetland flowers and dazzling dragonflies add a splash of colour to the reserve in summer and otters fish for eels in the deeper meres. Autumn can bring huge numbers of waders to the area and visitors can catch glimpses of rutting red deer on calm evenings. Most winters vast starling murmurations may be seen swirling above the vast reedbeds as thousands of birds flock together before going to roost. Meanwhile large numbers of little egrets will gather in the trees at dusk, looking like festive decorations in the fading light. 

Seasonal highlights

In spring watch marsh harriers skydancing high above the reedbeds. Birdsong fills the air as resident birds and newly arrived migrants such as sedge and reed warblers claim their breeding territory.

On the Allen and Eric Morecambe pools, large flocks of black-tailed godwits stop off on their way to Iceland and the first avocets return to nest.

Summer sees the spectacular sight of marsh harriers engaging in aerobatic food-passes while red deer can be seen grazing by the Tim Jackson and Grisedale meres in the evenings. A succession of marsh flowers such as flag iris and woody nightshade bloom along the reserve tracks as dazzling dragonflies and damselflies shimmer in the sunlight.

Parties of bearded tits gather in family parties to gather grit from the trays along the causeway in the autumn months and huge flocks of starlings may be seen wheeling above the reedbed before going to roost.

Wildfowl and waders arrive from their northern breeding grounds to spend the winter on the reserve and otters, bitterns and water rails can be seen out on the ice during cold spells. Flocks of wigeons and greylag geese graze the saltmarsh at the Allen and Eric Morecambe pools, and are regularly disturbed by hunting peregrines and merlins.

About Leighton Moss

Habitat

Leighton Moss’ diverse habitats include reeds, woodland and limestone grassland. It also incorporates extensive areas of mudflats, coastal marsh and saltwater lagoons along the shores of nearby Morecambe Bay. 

  • Extensive reed-fringed wetlands providing a home for nationally and regionally important breeding populations of bearded tits, marsh harriers, reed warblers and bitterns.
  • Mixed woodland with nesting marsh tits, nuthatches, bullfinches and tawny owls as well as roving long-tailed tits, treecreepers and woodpeckers.
  • Wildlife ponds supporting dragonflies and damselflies, as well as newts, toads, frogs and fish such as pike, eel and perch. 
  • Coastal saltmarsh lagoons attracting large numbers of wading birds including avocet, oystercatcher, curlew, redshank and dunlin.

Conservation

Our reedbed is the largest in northwest England and is home to important breeding birds such as bearded tits, marsh harriers and water rails. Other wildlife includes otters, bitterns and wintering wildfowl. 

Our work includes extensive reed cutting in summer and winter, while managing the water levels all year round. In recent years we have also restored a further 200 hectares of reedbed. The mudflats and saltmarsh around Morecambe Bay support important wintering populations of oystercatcher and knot, as well as breeding redshanks and wintering wildfowl. 

We are grazing the inner marsh with cattle in order to maintain suitable conditions for these birds at all times of year. The limestone grassland and woodland supports a large variety of nationally important plants and invertebrates,  including the rare high brown and pearl-bordered fritillary butterflies. We are managing the woodland with rotational coppicing and grazing the grassland with cattle.

Partners

Supported by the National Lottery through the Heritage Lottery Fund. Warton Crag Restoration Project supported by Lancashire Environmental Fund, Arnside & Silverdale AONB Grants Fund, and the Morecambe Bay Partnership.

Site information

Leighton Moss sits within the Arnside and Silverdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. 

It is designated as a Ramsar site as well as SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest) and SPA (Special Protection Area). The coastal areas are also designated SAC (Special Areas of Conservation).

Latest blog posts

read our blog

Latest forum posts

read our forum

What people are saying about Leighton Moss

An absolutely brilliant trip. 14 scouts and 5 leaders all had a very interesting, educational and fun day out. Thank you for a very well prepared and interesting presentation. We will be back for more.

Lisa Clifford

It may have only been a brief visit to the reserve and the saltmarshes but every second was worthwhile. Leighton Moss is FANTASTIC - I can't wait to come back in May!!! I had three new species from the site alone, so if you haven't been yet - WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?????

Scott Petrek

I went to Leighton Moss as part of a school trip to Arnside and it was absolutely fascinating. I have already been recommending it to people. Big thanks to Angela and all the other staff at Leighton Moss.

Alex Caraher

Activities and events

Activities for children and families

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

Ever wanted to explore the great outdoors with your family? At Leighton Moss we offer a unique chance to get immersed in a wild place and learn about nature. There are lots of activities and events on throughout the year to inspire nature loving families.

We have Wildlife Explorer backpacks and binoculars to hire as well as pond-dipping kits in spring and summer. Families can visit The Holt where you will find interactive display panels and activities for children of all ages. Explore themed, seasonal Wild Challenge quiz trails to discover more about the wildlife of Leighton Moss.

High chairs and children’s books are provided in the café.

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