Charnwood Lodge

At nearly 200 hectares, this beautiful nature reserve abounds with ancient history, atmosphere and wildlife. Grasslands support an array of butterflies in the summer, whilst the woodlands burst with birdsong in the spring, and turn fiery golden in the autumn. Prominent 600 million-year-old Precambrian rock outcrops protrude through the surrounding marl and other Triassic deposits.

Location

Warren Hills Road, Copt Oak, Leicestershire
LE67 4UX

OS Map Reference

SK 458155 (Sheet 129)
A static map of Charnwood Lodge

Know before you go

Size
197 hectares
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Entry fee

Accessible to LRWT members only

Grazing animals

Livestock may be present

Walking trails

There are several marked paths around the reserve and all visitors are requested to keep to these. Please contact us for an information sheet.

Access

This remarkable reserve lies 3km east of Whitwick and 3km north of Copt Oak, to the west of the M1. Members can enter from Abbey Road (nearest postcode is LE67 4UA), this track is used by farm machinery, for your safety please only access the parking area by vehicle and not on foot.  The reserve is on the east side of the road, half a kilometre from the Forest Rock junction. There is a combination padlock to the entrance gate, please email info@lrwt.org.uk with your membership number to gain access details. 

Members can also access the reserve from the Warren Hills Road (nearest postcode is LE67 4UX) where there is limited parking in the layby.

Dogs

On a lead

When to visit

Opening times

Always open, but please note restrictions

Best time to visit

Spring

About the reserve

This reserve is accessible to LRWT members only, please email info@lrwt.org.uk with your membership number to gain access details. 

Charnwood Lodge is one of the last truly wild areas in Charnwood Forest. Birds, bats, wildflowers, woodland butterflies, native trees, mosses and lichen all benefit from traditional, minimal management. It’s worth returning at different times of year so that you can experience that changing seasons fully and enjoy the species that the nature reserve attracts. As well as the forest, the area enjoys a reservoir, streams, ponds and fields. This is the perfect reserve for both ardent naturalists and those just wanting to get away from the city for a relaxing walk.

Buzzard, kestrel and sparrowhawk are now quite common, and there have been several sightings in recent years of hobby. In the spring and summer, listen out for tree pipits and migrant warblers. All three species of woodpecker occur, although the lesser spotted is rare. 

In the summer at dusk, keep an eye out for bats. Ten species of bat have been recorded on the reserve and both species of pipistrelle and the rare Natterer's breed here. Holly blue and green hair-streak butterflies can be seen, usually in May, and the reserve is excellent for spotting moorland moths, like the neglected rustic and glaucous shears.

The large tracts of heath grassland are dotted with bilberry, while marshes and boggy pools host wildflowers, such as marsh violet, lesser skullcap, creeping willow and climbing corydalis. Several locally rare ferns grow here, including lemon-scented and hard-fern, and there are rare species of sedge. The reserve is currently the only known site in the counties for several species of mosses and liverworts.

Environmental designation

Local Wildlife Site (LWS)
National Nature Reserve (NNR)
Scheduled Ancient Monument
Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI)