Welcome to Lackford Lakes visitor centre & nature reserve
Plan your visit
Opening times
The nature reserve is open from 8am to 5pm weekdays and 9am to 5pm weekends.
Car park & Visitor Centre
The car park and trails are open daily from 9am until 5pm.
Café open daily including Bank Holidays 10am until 4pm every day, toilets and shop open till 5pm.
Seven viewpoints / hides are open with a maximum stay of 1 hour.
Where to find us?
Address:
Lackford Lakes
Bury St Edmunds
Suffolk
IP28 6HX.
OS Map Reference:
TL 801706
Telephone:
01284 728706
How to find us
Ten minutes from Bury St Edmunds on the A1101, Bury to Mildenhall road between the villages of Flempton and Lackford Lakes.
By car & bicycle:
From Bury St Edmunds follow the A1101 north and west (Bury to Mildenhall road) through the villages of Fornham All Saints, Hengrave and Flempton. The reserve entrance will be on your right just after the golf course.
From the five ways roundabout on the A11 at Mildenhall follow the A1101 east and south through the villages of Icklingham and Lackford. The reserve entrance will be on your left just after Lackford village.
Bicycle racks are located near the visitor centre.
By train:
The nearest station is Bury St Edmunds (6 miles from the reserve).
By bus:
Two bus services operate a service to Lackford village, number 16 and number 355. Both services can be picked up from the bus station (stand 3) or railway station at Bury St Edmunds. Note that there is no bus service on Sundays or bank holidays. The reserve is a short walk from Lackford village. From the bus stop follow Holden Road eastwards to the church. The reserve entrance will be on your left.
Car parking and entry
We do not charge for entry or for car parking, but in order to keep us running, we suggest a donation of £3 per person.
Joining the Trust as a member is by far the best way to support local wildlife here at Lackford Lakes and across the county. You can join Suffolk Wildlife Trust here or when you visit us at Lackford Lakes.
If you are visiting as a group, no matter how big or small, please email us at lackford.centre@suffolkwildlifetrust.org in good time before your visit.
We will then provide you with a booking form to help ensure you get the most from your visit.
Guided walks, teas and coffees and introductory talks can be made available by request in advance, this can be discussed further once you have made your enquiry.
Facilities and access
Visitor centre with shop and café
The visitor centre is the ideal start point for a visit to the reserve. Our friendly team are available to help you get the most from your visit. The centre offers views over one of our smaller lakes and many of our smaller birds visit our bird feeders here.
There is a shop selling wildlife gifts, books, cards, nest boxes, etc with advice on binoculars and bird feeding tips available. You can hire binoculars from the visitor centre for £3.
The visitor centre, shop and café are open 7 days a week.
The cafe sells hot and cold drinks, a range of toasted ciabattas and sausage rolls as well as delicious local cakes from Sponge, ice cream from Saffron and Lickety Ices and crisps from award winning Two Farmers.
We have a range of items for different dietary requirements and preferrences, chat to the team to find out more
Picnic areas and benches
Picnic areas can be found around the centre. Dogs owners are welcome to use benches at the start of the red trail. A further picnic area can be found by the raised pond on the blue trail.
Benches are located at regular intervals around the blue circular trail.
Outdoor play area
There is an outdoor play area by the visitor centre.
Toilets
Toilets are available in the visitor centre. There is a fully accessible toilet with baby changing facilities in the main entrance porch.
Accessibility
The ground floor of the visitor centre including café, shop, viewpoints and toilets is fully accessible.
The blue trail is surfaced and barrier free. Four of our wildlife viewing hides can be accessed from this trail, all with ramped access. The nearest viewing area is 150m from the car park. There are standard design benches located at regular intervals along this trail.
The level of accessibility is variable on other paths depending on individual circumstances and weather conditions. Please speak with one of our team to prior to your visit.
We are currently working to improve access to two further wildlife viewpoints along the green trail.
Visitors with dogs.
Dogs on leads are welcome on our red route that starts at the visitor centre. A bin is available for dog waste within 50 metres of the start of this trail.
Only assistance dogs can access the centre and the other trails.
Dog owners are welcome to use the benches at the start of the red trail. A water bowl is available.
You can find out about why we ask owners to keep their dogs on a lead on permitted paths here.
Trails and wildlife viewpoints
Three trails and eight wildlife viewpoints to explore. All trails start at the visitor centre.
- The blue trail is a short circular trail (1 mile) that takes in four wildlife viewpoints overlooking a couple of our lakes.( 2 currently open)
- The green trail (up to 2 miles), takes you through a small woodland and gives views of four more lakes. There are four further wildlife viewpoints along this trail. ( 2 currently open)
- The red trail (up to 2 miles) takes you away from our lakes and around an area that we are restoring back to local Breckland habitat. Dogs on leads are allowed on this trail.
What to see
Lackford through the seasons
Listen to the sound of singing birds in spring with the arrival of nightingales and warblers from Africa. The first bees and butterflies start to make appearances on bright spring days.
In summer, the reserve is alive with damselflies and dragonflies. Swallows and martins sweep over the water’s surface feeding on small flies. The lakesides are busy with nesting great-crested grebe, kingfisher, tufted duck and water rail. Bright plant stems of purple-loosestrife, common fleabane and gipsywort create colour at the water’s edge.
Gold and red colours mark the coming of autumn with the arrival of a wide range of wildfowl. Birds including shoveler, lapwing, bittern and goldeneye depend on the lakes during the winter months.
Wildlife update – End of March
It is still early in spring at Lackford Lakes and the first birds are beginning to arrive at the reserve so far we have seen / heard chiffchaff, blackcap, swallow and sand martin. The next few weeks should see the arrival of many others.
On the lakes, there are still lots of ducks to be found. These are now beginning to display and are quite vocal as they pair up. Look out for shelduck, tufted duck, shoveler, teal, gadwall, little grebe and great crested grebe.
Wader wise, we still have snipe and lapwing around. Other odd waders drop in occasionally at this time of year so worth looking around the islands on our lakes. In the past week curlew and redshank have been visiting.
Birds of prey have been amazing in recent weeks. We have been watching them displaying and pairing up so worth watching the skies over the reserve for red kites and buzzards. Our marsh harriers have returned and are starting to lay claim to the reedbeds on the reserve.
Many of our resident smaller birds are already thinking of the breeding season so listen out to them calling and singing. Robin, dunnock, blue tit, great tit, blackbird, song thrush, long tailed tit can all be heard at this time of year.
It is always worth checking out our feeders at the centre when you visit. We are still getting the odd siskin there. Reed buntings are showing well, and greenfinches are still visiting.
Other signs of spring, include some shrubs and trees beginning to have fresh leaves coming out, the first butterflies have been seen and bumblebees can be seen flying around.
Daily activities and events
Make the most of your visit to Lackford! We have a range of activities and equipment for families such as:
Hire our discovery pack - £6. Packed with ideas and kit to get you out closer to nature, all in our handy carry bag.
Try our seasonal spotter sheet - £2. Changed each season, gets you looking closer at some of our resident wildlife and the place they call home.
Want to try out some binoculars?
Binocular hire - £3. A great choice if you don't want to bring yours out or if you're on holiday, have forgotten yours at home or simply want to test out a new pair. Different sizes available for big or small hands.
We also have plenty of events to book on including wild tots, babies and family events!
Please search our what’s on pages for more information:
Get involved at Lackford Lakes
Our volunteers enable us to do so much more for wildlife at Lackford Lakes and beyond.
We are looking for volunteers to help us develop Lackford Lakes into one of the best nature reserves in Suffolk. There are a variety of roles and times where support is needed and, should this be of interest, we will aim to match up your skills and situation to fit in with our friendly team.
For more information see our volunteering opportunities:
