Name: Porthkerry Country Park
Rating: 5.0

Porthkerry Country Park

Park Road, Barry, Glamorgan and Cardiff, CF62 3BY, Wales

1-90 Years

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Description

Porthkerry Country Park is a stunning 220-acre green space in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, offering a mix of woodland, meadows and dramatic coastal scenery. Set within a sheltered valley leading down to a pebble beach and impressive cliffs, it’s a perfect destination for nature lovers and families. The park provides a peaceful escape with beautiful views and plenty of outdoor space to explore.

Visitors can enjoy a variety of nature trails, picnic areas and an adventure playground for children. The park is rich in wildlife and habitats, including coastal grasslands, woodlands, lakes, ponds and rocky shores, making it ideal for wildlife spotting and exploring. The Forest Lodge hosts activities such as arts and crafts, bushcraft sessions, bird box making and educational nature events for schools and community groups. A café is also available for refreshments during your visit.

Entry to the park is completely free, making it a great value day out. Parking charges apply, costing £1 for up to 1 hour, £2 for up to 2 hours, £4 for up to 4 hours and £5 for all-day parking, with higher rates for buses and coaches.

With its combination of coastal views, woodland walks and family-friendly facilities, Porthkerry Country Park offers something for everyone. Whether you’re enjoying a seaside stroll, spotting wildlife or relaxing with a picnic, it’s a wonderful place to unwind and explore the natural beauty of South Wales.

Features

Free
Host birthday parties: No

Features

220 acres of woods and meadowland in a sheltered valley leading to a pebble beach and spectacular cliffs. The park has a number of nature trails, picnic sites, a café and an adventure play area.
Picnic tables and benches are situated a short distance from the main car park. Porthkerry Country Park has been increasing the number and range of activities that it provides for visitors but had no indoor space.
The lodge is used by our ranger service to provide nature activities for schools and community groups, and as a venue for a range of activities including arts and craft sessions, bird box making, bush craft and bat talks.

Facilities

Cafe
Adventure playground
Parking

What to see

Habitats and Wildlife

Coastal Grassland: We have both calcareous and neutral grassland on the coast rich in plant life specific to soil type. Our rangers are busy managing these areas to encourage the growth of a diverse range of flora that would otherwise be smothered by scrub.
Reedbeds: To maintain this precious habitat the Ranger Service remove scrub vegetation and rotationally manage the reedbeds to attract as many wildlife species as possible and who knows, we may attract the rare Water Vole to Cosmeston in the near future.
Meadows: The grassland meadows at Cosmeston are cut once a year after the flowers have gone over and the cuttings removed, the dovecot fields are lightly grazed by cattle from October through to March, then also cut after the flowers have gone over and the cuttings removed. This management regime has helped to encourage growth and species diversity year on year.
Lakes and Ponds: The two flooded quarries have become the main lakes at Cosmeston over 12ha in size with many smaller ponds found throughout the country park for you to discover.
Woodland: Along the coast woodlands are scarce because of the harsh environment. Trees are often stunted due to the salt winds. Where woodlands are found there is often a good ground covering of spring flowers such as bluebells and wild garlic.
Rocky shores: Beaches on the coast range from rocky shores to expansive areas of sand. Discover abundant marine life adapted to the harsh intertidal conditions of our exposed shores such as sea anemones, barnacles, periwinkles and many more. Dunraven Bay is a good beach for families to explore and search for edible and shore crabs.
Dunes: Merthyr Mawr National Nature Reserve is part of the Glamorgan Heritage Coast now managed by Natural Resources Wales. Its spectacular sand dunes are rated the second highest in Europe. This area is rich in plant life. It is also an area of special interest for fungi like the highly prized Morel.
Cliffs: The majority of the Glamorgan Heritage Coast cliffs are made up of Liassic limestone and shale. The cliffs are used by nationally important bird species.
Farmland: Most of the land within the Glamorgan Heritage Coast designation is privately owned. From Aberthaw to Llantwit major farmland is mostly arable and mixed farming from Llantwit Major to Southerndown.
Commons: These include Ogmore Common and areas adjacent to the Glamorgan Heritage Coast.The main management is sheep grazing and some vegetation cutting.