Leighton Moss

We’re delighted to have some of our facilities open for your visit, you’ll notice we’ve made some changes to help keep everyone safe. See full facility details below and our blog for more information. When visiting us please follow current Government guidance around travel, social distancing, group sizes, hygiene and follow all signage on-site. Unless exempt, all those who can, must please wear a face covering in our toilets, visitor centre, shop and cafe. See our Covid-19 updates page for the latest safety information (link below). We can’t wait to see you!

Address: RSPB Leighton Moss, Myers Farm, Storrs Lane, Silverdale, Carnforth LA5 0SW

Grid ref: SD478750

What3Words: trespass.orange.crumble

See our reserves Covid-19 updates page for which sites are open and other important details.

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

Main car park: Open daily, dawn-dusk
Nature reserve trails: Open daily, dawn-dusk
Accessible toilets: Open daily, dawn-dusk.
Café: Open for takeaway daily, 9.30am-5pm
Vistor centre, toilets and shop: Open daily, 9.30am-5pm

Hides: Closed.

Festive opening times

Christmas Eve: Reserve, visitor centre, toilets, shop and café are closed.
Christmas Day: Reserve, visitor centre, toilets, shop and café are closed.
Boxing Day: Reserve, visitor centre, toilets, shop and café are closed.
New Year’s Eve: Reserve, visitor centre, toilets and café open 10am-4pm
New Year’s Day: Reserve, visitor centre, toilets and café open 10am-4pm
Monday 4 January: Due to being open over New Year, the reserve, visitor centre, toilets, shop and café are closed.
Tuesday 5 January: Due to being open over New Year, the reserve, visitor centre, shop and café are closed.
All other days in the festive period are open our usual winter opening hours as above.

Free entrance to RSPB members: Yes

Adults: £8

Children: £4
Free entrance for first child
Free entrance for under 5s

Student: £5.50

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 is closed
Guided walks is closed
Viewing point
Nature trails
Shop
Educational facilities are closed

Accessibility

Download full accessibility statement (PDF)

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

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RSPB reserves on Google Earth

Dogs are welcome on the Causeway, a public bridleway through the reserve. Please keep to the designated rights of way only.

Please keep your dog on a lead and under close, effective control at all times, due to the sensitive wildlife, habitats and livestock here. We know that the countryside is a dog walking paradise. Even if dogs are very well behaved, wildlife and livestock 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 on a lead and under close, effective control.

The Causeway is the only public right of way on the reserve, the other trails are not public footpaths, so sorry, no dogs are permitted on here other than assistance dogs.
Dogs can die in hot cars, please do not leave your dog in the car when visiting us.
There are no dog waste bins on the reserve, we ask that you take the waste home with you to dispose of.

Please follow current Government guidance on group sizes when visiting the reserve.

Group bookings are usually welcome to visit us during normal opening hours. However, laws in England mean that the maximum group size able to visit our reserve together is currently 6, unless you are from the same household or bubble.

Due to Covid-19 measures, we have temporarily paused our school visits until autumn 2021. For information on our exciting programme of curriculum-linked outdoor education sessions, visit our school trip information.

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

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. For full details of our programmes and offer for schools, visit our school trip ideas page.

To book your visit or to find out more, contact schoolbookings@rspb.org.uk or call 01603 697 504.

15 degrees, Sunny day

Downloads

Helping you find your way around. PDF, 677Kb

Leighton Moss trail guide

Contact Leighton Moss

RSPB Leighton Moss, Myers Farm, Storrs Lane, Silverdale, Carnforth LA5 0SW
leighton.moss@rspb.org.uk
01524 701601
@RSPBLeightonM
Find us on facebook

What will you see?

Our star species

Avocet

Avocets can be seen from the hides overlooking the Allen and Eric Morecambe Pools in spring and summer.

Bearded tit

A year-round attraction here in the extensive reedbeds. They form flocks in autumn.

Bittern

Bitterns may be present all year round but they are easier to see in the winter. On frosty days they can often be seen sitting at the edge of the pools or walking across the ice.

Marsh harrier

Marsh harriers may be seen all-year round and in spring they can be seen skydancing over the reedbeds.

Water rail

Watch out for Water rail venturing onto exposed mud when the water drops in late summer and autumn or onto ice in winter.

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.

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

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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

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, binoculars and, in season, pond-dipping kits to hire and you can visit The Holt where you will find interactive display panels and activities for the children of all ages. Explore the Wild Challenge Quiz Trail to discover more about the wildlife of Leighton Moss.

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

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Leighton Moss