Places to visit in West Midlands
Explore nature reserves, woodlands, and parks across 30 counties in West Midlands.
The Shropshire Hills and Malvern Hills frame a region better known for cities — yet hiding some of England's most rewarding green corridors.
Birmingham
England's second city, with Sutton Park — one of Europe's largest urban nature reserves — an extensive canal network, and the Lickey Hills Country Park on the southern fringe.
Bromsgrove
A district at the Midlands' southern edge, with the Lickey Hills Country Park, the Arrow river valley, and rolling farmland approaching the Malvern Hills.
Cannock Chase
A district centred on Cannock Chase AONB — a rare lowland heathland and conifer forest — with the Sherbrook and Sher rivers running through valley trails.
Coventry
A compact city in the Midlands plain, with Brandon Marsh Nature Centre — one of the Midlands' premier wetland reserves — and the River Sherbourne corridor.
Dudley
An urban district in the Black Country, with Wrens Nest National Nature Reserve's Silurian limestone geology, Saltwells Wood, and the historic Dudley Canal and Tunnels.
East Staffordshire
A district in the Trent and Dove valleys, at the edge of the National Forest and Needwood plateau woodland, with the Staffordshire Wildlife Trust's riverside reserves.
Herefordshire, County of
A rural border county of hop yards and orchards, with the Wye valley, the Black Mountains on the Welsh border, the Malvern Hills AONB, and the Golden Valley.
Lichfield
A cathedral-city district on the southern edge of Cannock Chase AONB, with Chasewater Country Park, the River Trent floodplains, and Lichfield's reservoir walks.
Malvern Hills
A district dominated by the Malvern Hills AONB's ancient crystalline ridge, with the Teme river valley, the Severn vale to the east, and orchards on the hillsides.
Newcastle-under-Lyme
A town district in west Staffordshire bordering the Potteries, with Lyme Park's woodland, the Trent and Mersey Canal, and Keele University's parkland campus.
North Warwickshire
A rural district north of Birmingham, with Kingsbury Water Park's gravel-pit lakes, the River Tame, and the Arden landscape's ancient hedgerow farmland.
Nuneaton and Bedworth
An urban district north of Coventry, with Hartshill Hayes Country Park's ancient woodland, the Coventry Canal towpath, and the Anker river valley.
Redditch
A new-town district in north Worcestershire, with the Arrow Valley Country Park's lake and riverside, Forge Mill museum, and the wooded Arrow valley corridor.
Rugby
A market-town district in the Swift and Avon valleys of east Warwickshire, with the Grand Union Canal towpath, Stanford Reservoir, and open farmland.
Sandwell
A densely urban Black Country district with the Sandwell Valley Country Park — a mosaic of woodland, meadows, and lakes — and the network of historic canals.
Shropshire
A large border county with the Shropshire Hills AONB, the Long Mynd's open moorland, the Stiperstones ridge, and river corridors of the Severn and Clun.
Solihull
A district southeast of Birmingham with the River Cole valley, Earlswood Lakes, the Arden countryside, and a green belt of farmed land on the urban fringe.
South Staffordshire
A rural district south of Wolverhampton, with the Smestow Brook and Stour river valleys, Kinver Edge's heathland, and the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal.
Stafford
A county-town district along the River Sow and Trent, with Cannock Chase AONB on the eastern edge, Shugborough Estate parkland, and the Trent Valley Walk.
Staffordshire Moorlands
A district on the Peak District's western fringe, with the Churnet valley's wooded gorge, Tittesworth Reservoir, the Roaches gritstone outcrops, and Dove valley trails.
Stoke-on-Trent
A Potteries city with the Trent and Mersey Canal towpath, Westport Lake nature reserve, and Burslem Park — a Victorian park in a post-industrial landscape.
Stratford-on-Avon
A district in the Avon valley with Shakespeare's country, the Cotswold fringe, Hidcote Manor Garden, and the Greenway cycle route along a former railway.
Tamworth
A compact town district at the confluence of the Tame and Anker rivers, with Tamworth Castle grounds, Dosthill Country Park, and the Coventry Canal corridor.
Telford and Wrekin
A new-town district built around the Ironbridge Gorge — birthplace of the Industrial Revolution — with the Wrekin hill, the town parks, and the River Severn.
Walsall
A Black Country district with the Walsall Arboretum's ornamental lakes, Chuckery Wood, the Wyrley and Essington Canal, and the Shire Oak Country Park.
Warwick
A district in the Avon valley, with Kenilworth Castle's grounds, Burton Dassett Country Park's hilltop, the Grand Union Canal, and Leam Valley meadow reserves.
Wolverhampton
A city district with West Park's Victorian parkland, the Smestow Brook valley, the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal, and Wightwick Manor's garden.
Worcester
A cathedral city on the River Severn, with riverside meadows, the Worcestershire Beacon of the Malvern Hills to the west, and the Severn Way long-distance path.
Wychavon
A district of fruit orchards, the Vale of Evesham, and the Cotswolds' western slope, with the Avon and Carrant rivers and the Bredon Hill AONB.
Wyre Forest
A district centred on the Wyre Forest — one of England's largest ancient coppice woodlands — with the Severn Valley, Bewdley's riverside, and the Staffordshire Way.