Hampshire County Council is investing £1.2 million in rebuilding the visitor centre at Queen Elizabeth Country Park, so that it can be enjoyed by even more people.
Hampshire County Council’s Executive Member for Recreation and Heritage, Councillor Seán Woodward, said: “The visitor centre at Queen Elizabeth Country Park was built in 1970 and is no longer fit to accommodate the ever-increasing number of visitors that come to enjoy the park. This large-scale refurbishment will bring to life the seventies architecture while making it a space that people can enjoy and relax in when they come to the park.”
Work will begin at the end of January and last for around eight months. Changes will include an entirely fresh new look and reconfigured space which will house a new reception area, shop, toilets and event space to hire. The café will also be able to seat more people in a larger brighter space and have a fresh new menu.
New Queen Elizabeth Country Park Mountain Bike Tracks Opens With A Family Fun Day Also Planned
Councillor Woodward continued: “This is the third of four major investments we have made into the County Council’s country parks following the successful renovation of Lepe Country Park in the New Forest and Royal Victoria Country Park near Netley and will be followed closely by Staunton Country Park in Havant. These projects are ensuring that our country parks continue to be top visitor destinations in Hampshire but also become self-sustaining so that they can continue to thrive in the future.”
The refurbishment will also include new tables and benches as well as a covered seating area in the courtyard. There will be new landscaping to the front and rear of the visitor centre while elsewhere there will be new signage for exploring the park as well as improvements to the car parks. Lastly but no means least the kiosk at Juniper will be improved along with the toilets to match the new play area and assault course.
While the visitor centre is closed a temporary café can be found at the marquee on the meadow and a visitor reception will be located in the cabin in the main car park. There will also be visitor toilets at both these locations.
Camping At Coney Acres
Queen Elizabeth Country Park is located in Petersfield and forms part of the South Downs National Park with extensive woodland and dramatic downland scenery over 1400 acres.Queen Elizabeth Country Park blends nature and nurture as skilfully as any landscape gardener. Opened by the Queen, maintained by the Collective.
Queen Elizabeth Country Park is easily accessed by road and not hard to find; it’s directly off the A3, four miles south of Petersfield, Hampshire. South West trains run regular services to Petersfield and a cycleway runs south from the park towards Clanfield. Parking costs £3.50 for the day.
There are a variety of places to stay nearby, from local pubs and B&Bs to Premier Inns in both Petersfield and Portsmouth.
Assault Course At Queen Elizabeth Country Park
A traditional country pub with good food, ales and self-catering accommodation, The Five Bells in Buriton is 10 minutes away, 01730 263584, fivebells-buriton.co.uk
If you’re looking for a well-stocked shop with knowledgeable staff, your best bet is to head south to Portsmouth to one of the three branches of Solent Cycles. Book in for a test ride, get your bike fixed or stock up on spares, 01329 822608, solent-cycles.co.uk
The visitor centre at Queen Elizabeth Country Park sells very basic spares and has a bike stand with a tool station and pump that are free to use.
Queen Elizabeth Country Park, East Meon And Petersfield Circular: 16 Reviews, Map
As the Blue trail is so user-friendly, pretty much anything goes, from families riding all kinds of bikes to cross-country riders getting in some sprint training. The Red trail could be ridden on a fully rigid bike or a hardtail, though we felt most comfortable on a trail bike.
Exactly 300 years ago, the first celebrity ‘gardener’ — Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown — unveiled his visionary new designs for the 1, 000-acre park surrounding Chatsworth stately home. Tearing out the formal gardens, so beloved by those who came before him, Brown instead saw the landscape as something to work with and improve, sculpting and shaping what nature bestowed and introducing flowing contours, as he believed ‘nature abhors straight lines’. Additionally, Brown was a firm believer in creating parks for enjoyment and interaction, rather than just for visual pleasure, seeking to add lakes for both swimming and beauty, and woodland for hunting.
Looking back as a mountain biker on this tercentenary, it’s obvious Brown was a visionary, articulating the principles on which all the best trail centres across the UK are founded. Opened by (who else?) the Queen back in 1971, Queen Elizabeth Country Park consists of six square kilometres of downland and woodland, including the highest point on the South Downs — Butser Hill — and part of what used to be known as Buriton Forest. Weaving between the native beech trees, inspired minds and eager hands have been at work in a 21st century interpretation of Brown’s landscape gardening, crafting swooping curves and robust berms and installing rock gardens to complement the artistry. Luckily for us, rather than being reserved for the sole pleasure of the landed gentry, a la Chatsworth circa 1716, Queen Elizabeth Country Park is also open to the common people.
Queen Elizabeth Country Park: Die Besten Routen Zum Wandern
In a familiar story for so many of the best trails in the UK, it was the passion of local riders that saw the development of mountain biking within the park. The sport first made an appearance there back in the early Nineties as an XC venue for the British series, but in the following 20 years, little was done and the trails fell into a state of disrepair. And this is how they remained until five years ago. Realising the trails were getting dangerous, locals met with the country park to request permission to repair them, and with its blessing, began to sort out a few dangerous pinch points. The county council was impressed (or realised it had a ready-made labour force willing to work for free) and actually encouraged them to organise regular dig days. Hence the QECP Trail Collective was born.
The resulting trails — a blue and a red — are small but well-maintained, offering plenty of scope for fast-paced training laps or a casual after-work roll. Granted, with just two official tracks, it’s not the Forest of Dean, but the trails are a good place to start if you’re short of time. It also boasts a location right on the South Downs Way, allowing you the option of book-ending a big chalky bash with a couple of laps around something more sinuous. Considering the 160km-long (99 miles) South Downs Way is the longest bike-friendly trail in the UK, QECP is your gateway to a world of potential.
Arriving at Queen Elizabeth Country Park, it’s not initially clear where the trails begin — there are several car parks and picnic areas and directions are somewhat scarce. Carry on past the visitor centre, and the first couple of car parks, and you’ll eventually come to the start of the Blue and Red, both of which are circular and begin from the same point, though that isn’t immediately obvious either.
Queen Elizabeth Country Park's Visitor Centre Open Day
The Blue trail heads off along open fire road and crosses a picnic area before heading into the woods for some gentle, cruising, singletrack. Being a blue, it’s not especially challenging but the track is well maintained and weatherproof, so it’s perfect for families — of which, being so close to Portsmouth means there’s no shortage — cross-country riders, or those seeking a fun, easy blast that will leave a smile. We used it as a relaxing warm-down loop after riding the Red, pottering along listening to the birds on a warm summer’s evening. Even on a beautiful Sunday in July the trail was deserted and it felt like we had the forest to ourselves.
The Red trail incorporates many more features, as well as plenty of steeper sections. Largely based on the footprint of old existing trails, it was officially reopened in 2012, after the team deleted a load of fire road in favour of singletrack, doubling the length of the original track. The main climb now winds through the dappled shade of the beech trees, which makes getting to the top a lot more interesting than just plodding up a forest road.
The QECP Trail Collective has poured numerous hours into making the most of its modest 7.5km length, adding berms, roll-able tabletops and rock gardens to complement the natural singletrack on which the trail is based. Different sections have a different focus: ‘Snakebite’ is a series of bermed switchbacks that are good for finding your rhythm and polishing up your pumping technique. Jumps and drops are rideable for most skill levels, making the Red a great track for improving riders, and it’s possible to loop back, via a short section of fire road, to have another bash at railing the berms perfectly.
Queen Elizabeth Country Park, Hampshire, England
Trees dominate the rolling terrain at QECP, and along with the unique geology of the South Downs, have a huge influence on the riding experience. During the summer, the dense woodland offers great respite from the
