The Cotswold Water Park

Nobody agrees on the number of lakes. Natural England's protection of 2021 covers 177 and its blog of the time speaks of over 170 in all, while the National Trail's page for the Thames Path says about 140. The Cotswold Lakes Trust, the charity that looks after the reserves and car parks, numbers each one on its map. What matters on the ground is that only a few of them let you in the water.

What to see

Birds, above all. Natural England counts more than 35,000 waterbirds here in winter, and protected the whole park as a Site of Special Scientific Interest in 2021 for them and for its lime-rich lakes, the largest system of their kind in the country. The Trust's best reserve is Cleveland Lakes near Ashton Keynes (Lakes 68 and 74), with the park's largest reedbed, a hide on each lake and a heronry of grey herons and little egrets; goldeneye, wigeon and teal come in winter, and hobbies hunt dragonflies over the water in summer.

Shorncote Reedbeds (Lakes 84 and 85) has two hides over three lakes and 20 hectares of reed, where the Trust lists bittern, snipe and otter. Cokes Pit (Lake 34) is a local nature reserve with orchids in its grass clearings, and Elmlea Meadow, which the Trust manages with Natural England, has snake's-head fritillaries in spring. At Waterhay Reedbeds, on an old silt lagoon, starlings gather to roost on winter evenings.

Swimming is allowed only where someone runs it. The Trust's car parks forbid it, and the two places we can point you to are both booked by session: the Trust's own swims and paddleboarding on Waterhay Lake at Cleveland Lakes, on marked courses of 200m to 900m (£8.50 for a non-member in 2026), and ROX at South Cerney, with pay-and-play paddleboarding and kayaking from £18 and open-water swims from £6 (2026). Cotswold Country Park and Beach at Shorncote, which had a supervised beach, may have closed: in October 2026 its website was a parked page, so check with the Cotswold Lakes Trust (opens in a new tab) before you go. Our page on wild swimming in the Cotswolds adds the lidos and the rivers.

A day by the lakes

Start at the Cotswold Lakes Visitor Centre on the Spine Road for the Trust's free Leisure Map (it opens at weekends and in the school holidays from March to November; at other times download the map first), then drive or ride to the Trust's Bridge car park on the Spine Road, which people here call the arches. From there the Old Railway Line runs south for about 6km to Cricklade between lakes and hedges, flat and traffic-free, with a trail of wildlife rubbing plaques for children. Walk or cycle a stretch of it and come back for lunch at the Lodge café at ROX, on the shore of its lake. In the afternoon drive west to Cleveland Lakes for the hides, or for a booked swim if you planned one.

Walks and cycling

The Trust counts more than 100km of public rights of way among the lakes, from short lakeside loops to a 12-mile route by country pubs and villages, all on its Leisure Map and on Ordnance Survey's 1:25,000 maps. The land is level, so it suits children on bikes, but some routes and bridleways flood in winter. Cycling in the Cotswolds puts the Water Park's railway path beside the other traffic-free rides.

The Thames Path crosses the park on its way from the source. Its first stage, from Thames Head near Kemble to Cricklade, is 12.3 miles (19.7km) on the National Trail's figure, through Ewen and past the lakes, and the Trust's Neigh Bridge Country Park, on the western edge of Somerford Keynes, is a car park and picnic ground where you can join it. The Old Railway Line follows the trackbed of the Midland and South Western Junction Railway from South Cerney to Cricklade. Badgers have dug under the stretch between Cricklade and the river, leaving holes and a risk of collapse, so heed the Trust's signs there. We have not yet written up a walk of our own in the lakes.

Where to stay

Many of the lakes are ringed by holiday lodges, holiday parks and second homes, some in gated estates whose lakes and paths are for residents only; the public footpaths run past them rather than through. A lodge suits you if you want to wake up by the water and spend the days on it. For pubs, shops and a choice of restaurants, stay in Cirencester, about 4 miles from South Cerney, and drive out.

Food and drink

The lakes themselves have little: the Lodge at ROX is a lakeside café that has brought back Sunday roasts, and the Wild Leisure base at Cleveland Lakes has refreshments for its swimmers. South Cerney has pubs in the village, and at the western edge of the park the Thames Head Inn on the A433 near Kemble is open all day for walkers coming off the Thames Path. Our guide to outdoor activities in the Cotswolds has more on the water.

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When to come

Winter is the season for birds, when the ducks and grebes arrive in thousands and the reedbeds fill with roosting starlings at dusk; bring boots, because the Waterhay car park and some paths flood. Spring brings the fritillaries at Elmlea Meadow, and summer is for the water, when the booked sessions at Cleveland Lakes and ROX are worth arranging ahead. In mid-July, in the years it is held, the Royal International Air Tattoo at RAF Fairford runs a park and ride from South Cerney, and the roads round the lakes are busy. For families, see the Cotswolds with children.