One of the best things about living in, or visiting, Glastonbury is the beauty of the surrounding area.
If you are heading out of town to connect with nature you are spoilt for choice of nature reserves to visit and this article provides a summary of those within a short drive, or ride, of Glastonbury town. Only reserves within a 10 mile (16 km) cycle ride of Glastonbury town centre and only reserves that do not require a permit are included in this article. The distances shown are from Glastonbury town centre using the quietest cycle routes. For more information on each reserve including parking arrangements, maps and what to see or do follow the links below.
- Bushy Coombe – Glastonbury’s own nature reserve close to the town centre owned by the Bushy Coombe Land Trust. Good for stunning views, trees, picnics and dancing around a maypole.
Bottom Entrance 
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Top Entrance infringe.dream.store
- Catcott Complex – 92 hectares – 14.9 km cycle ride – Amazing wetland mosaic of traditional hay meadows, wet woodland and wet grazing marsh and fen. This encourages a range of species to feed, breed and roost all year round and it has become internationally renowned for its birdlife. The reserve is made up of Catcott Lows and Catcott Heath. Good for birdwatching, history, insect spotting, overwintering birds.
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WWW: Catcott Complex – Somerset Wildlife Trust
More Information
Avalon Marshes – Catcott Complex
- Cooks Field – 34 hectares – 15.2 km – Flower rich limestone grassland on steep slopes and traditional hay meadows on the higher and flatter ground. It is an important site for grassland butterflies. Good for birdwatching, butterflies, Spring flowers, stunning views, wildlife after dark.
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WWW: Cooks Field – Somerset Wildlife Trust
- Dundon Beacon – 24 hectares – 9.5 km – A mosaic of flower rich calcareous grassland, scrub and ancient oak woodland on an isolated hill capped with an Iron Age fort with views across the Somerset Levels and Moors. Good for butterflies, fungi, history, stunning views, wildflowers.
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WWW: Dundon Beacon – Somerset Wildlife Trust
More information
Dundon Hill Hillfort – Wiki
- Gilling Down – 9 hectares – 7.9 km – Limestone grassland reserve on west facing slopes with areas of mixed scrub and woodland great for wildflowers and butterflies. Good for butterflies, insect spotting, stunning views, walking, wildflowers.
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WWW: Gilling Down – Somerset Wildlife Trust
- Great Breach Wood – 60 hectares – 7.6 km – Part of a network of Somerset Wildlife Trust reserves in the East Polden Hills, Great Breach Wood is a wonderfully diverse woodland with wildlife rich scrub and many glades and rides. Good for Autumn colour, birdwatching, butterflies, insect spotting, walking.
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WWW: Great Breach Wood – Somerset Wildlife Trust
More Information
Great Breach and Copley Woods – Wiki
- Ham Wall – 265 hectares – 5.8 km – Wetland teeming with wildlife – from rare species like water voles and otters to magnificent birds like bitterns and kingfishers. Enjoy stunning views across the marshes to Glastonbury Tor and make some time to follow secluded paths through the mystical landscape.
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WWW: Ham Wall – RSPB
More Information
Avalon Marshes – Ham Wall
Ham Wall – Wiki
- Kings Castle Wood – 12 hectares – 11.6 km – Just a mile south-east of the centre of Wells, this is an ancient semi-natural woodland, made up primarily of ash, hazel and field maple, with planted oak and a fine stand of small-leaved lime. The main woodland is on a flat-topped promontory of the outlying Mendip Hills where an Iron Age fort once stood. Good for birdwatching, exploring woods, historical interest, insect spotting, wildflowers.
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WWW: King’s Castle Wood – Somerset Wildlife Trust
More Information
Kings Castle, Wells – Wiki
- Lynchcombe – 25 hectares – 15 km – Flower rich grassland in a dramatic setting high up on the Mendip escarpment with panoramic views across the Somerset Levels. Good for a family day out, birdwatching, insect spotting, stunning views, wildflowers.
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WWW: Lynchcombe – Somerset Wildlife Trust
- New Hill and Tannager – 21 hectares – 8.6 km – One of a series of Trust reserves where you can explore the Polden Hills, a low narrow ridge of Blue Lias stretching from Puriton in the west to Street in the east. It comprises of two blocks of former limestone downland and woodland on the western escarpment of Polden Hills. Good for butterflies, insect spotting, stunning views, walking, wildflowers.
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WWW: New Hill and Tannager – Somerset Wildlife Trust
- Shapwick Heath – 500 hectares – 5.9 km – National Nature Reserve located at the heart of the Somerset Levels and Moors, has a variety of habitats, including wildflower meadows, ditches, dens, damp fern woods and open water surrounded by reed beds. Good for birdwatching, history, insect spotting, mammals, wildflowers.
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WWW: Natural England – Somerset’s National Nature Reserves – Shapwick Heath
More Information
Avalon Marshes – Shapwick Heath
Shapwick Heath – Wiki
- Shapwick Moor – 10.2 km – Shapwick Moor is the Avalon Marshes’ newest nature reserve. It adjoins Shapwick Heath National Nature Reserve and shows how degraded agricultural land can be changed into a haven for wildlife combined with good public access. Here you will find former arable fields gradually being restored to herb rich grassland and fen.
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WWW: Shapwick Moor National Nature Reserve – Hawk and Owl Trust
More Information
Avalon Marshes – Shapwick Moor
Shapwick Moor – Wiki
- Street Heath – 8 hectares – 4.1 km – The reserve consists of carr woodland, wet and dry heath, with bog plants on the very wet peat. The reserve is one of the few areas of mire within the Avalon Marshes which are of national importance. These are the habitats where bog plants survive; these plants would have been found in the area’s vast raised bogs which extended from the Isle of Wedmore to the Polden Hills in pre-historic times.
More Information
Avalon Marshes – Other Nature Reserves
Street Heath – Wiki
- Westhay Moor – 106 hectares – 9.1 km – National Nature Reserve which is part of the mystical Avalon Marshes within Somerset’s historic Levels and Moors. It provides a home for rare wildlife and a unique insight into thousands of years of shifting landscape. Good for birdwatching, butterflies, history, insect spotting, lichens and mosses.
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WWW: Somerset Wildlife Trust – Westhay Moor
More Information
Avalon Marshes – Westhay Moor
Westhay Moor – Wiki
- White Field – 3 hectares – 12.4 km – Small area of unimproved, yet important, species-rich hay meadow together with a small copse. It is a reserve which remains in an area that has largely seen a decline in wildlife due to agricultural intensification. Good for birdwatching, butterflies, wildflowers.
More Information
White Field – Somerset Wildlife Trust
- Withial Combe – 10 hectares – 9.7 km – Mainly comprised of a remote, steep-sided ancient wooded ravine together with two small meadows great for woodland flowers and birds. Good for ancient trees, birdwatching, butterflies, rivers, wildflowers.
More Information
Withial Combe – Somerset Wildlife Trust
- Yarley Fields – 5 hectares – 9.2 km – Reserve on the gentle south-facing slope of Yarley Hill overlooking the Somerset Levels a few miles west of Wells. Good for birdwatching, butterflies, insect spotting, stunning views, wildflowers.
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WWW: Yarley Fields – Somerset Wildlife Trust
More Information
Avalon Marshes – Other Nature Reserves
Have you visited any nature reserves in Somerset? Please share your experience with others by leaving a comment – thank you.
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