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Rainton Meadows Walk

1.06 miles (1.7 km)

Ordnance Survey Map Open Streetmap This walk visits the Rainton Meadows Nature Reserve near West Rainton and Houghton le Spring, County Durham.
The pretty reserve is run by Durham Wildlife Trust and includes their headquarters. You can follow a series of easy footpaths around the site with habitats including lakes, wetlands, grassland and woodland. It's great for wildlife with bird species including redshank, oystercatcher, lapwing and little ringed plover. There's also grazing Exmoor ponies in the winter months.
To continue your walking in the area head just a couple of miles south west to visit Finchale Abbey. Here you can explore substantial ancient ruins of the English Heritage owned priory and enjoy riverside walks along the River Wear.
The Great North Forest Heritage Trail runs right past the reserve. One nice idea is to pick up the trail and follow it to nearby Hutton-le-Hole where you can explore the lovely Hetton Lyons Country Park.

Postcode

DH4 6PU - Please note: Postcode may be approximate for some rural locations

Rainton Meadows OS Map Ordnance survey map - Mobile GPS OS Map with Location tracking

Rainton Meadows Open Street Map Open Streetmap - Mobile GPS Map with Location tracking

Pubs/Cafes

There's a nice on site cafe where you can enjoy some refreshments after your exercise.

Dog Walking

The reserve is a pleasant place for a dog walk. Please keep them on leads as you make your way along the footpaths.

Photos

Rainton Meadows

View from a bird hide of one of the ponds at Rainton Meadows Nature Reserve, County Durham. The church spire in the distance is St Mary's, West Rainton.

Lane at south side of Rainton Meadows - geograph.org.uk - 3448693

Lane at south side of Rainton Meadows

Gateway at the edge of Rainton Meadows - geograph.org.uk - 3502762

Gateway at the edge of the site

Pond at Rainton Meadows Nature Reserve - geograph.org.uk - 3497634

Pond view

Visitor centre at Durham Wildlife Trust Headquarters Rainton Meadows - geograph.org.uk - 2218225

Car park and Visitor centre at Durham Wildlife Trust Headquarters.

Viewing stage at Rainton Meadows Nature Reserve - geograph.org.uk - 3497638

Viewing stage

Rainton Meadows looking west

Looking west into the attractive surrounding countryside

Joe's Pond Rainton Meadows Nature Reserve - geograph.org.uk - 156950

Joe's Pond

Video

GPS Files

GPX File

Rainton Meadows.gpx (On Desktop:Right Click>Save As. On Ipad/Iphone:Click and hold>Download Linked File)