Four self-guided walks in Hastings Country Park Nature Reserve

Where to start?

The walks start and end at the Visitor Centre (TN35 4AD or OS Grid Reference TQ 860 116)¹. The Visitor Centre is off the Fairlight Road, 4 miles from the Centre of Hastings and 10 miles from Rye. There is a signed turn-off to Lower Coastguard Lane accompanied with a brown tourist sign.The bus 101 between Hastings and Rye stops at Fairlight Church which is 300 metres from the Visitor Centre. Click here for a link to Stagecoach for bus times.

The Visitor Centre is open every weekend and most weekdays.

Which Walk?

On each walk page, you will find a button to print off the whole walk (picture and map on one or two pages of A4) and in addition there is a link to download or print off a full size page of just the map (in pdf format) for extra clarity.

There is no WiFi in the Hastings Country Park Nature Reserve and phone coverage is patchy, espcially in the glens, which means you may not be able to access this Self-Guided Walk information on-line as you walk. If you download the PDF onto a tablet or smartphone, you can save the pdf and view it offline and use your device as a guide during your walk.

The distances given for these walks are deduced from the distances marked on the signposts. In some cases these may have been adjusted to the nearest rounded number so you may find that the actual length of the walk is a bit different to that cited in the following descriptions.

Further Information

Before you start on your chosen walk do spend a while in the Visitor Centre. The Visitor Centre houses a wealth of information about the wildlife and geology of the Hastings Country Park Nature Reserve. There is a touch table where you can pick up and feel objects from the natural environment and a range of displays that give more information about what makes the Nature Reserve such a special place. There are a small number of publications for sale as well as a small selection of souvenirs. You can also pick up the free events leaflet, site guide (map) and a selection of booklets covering subjects such as Wildflowers, Grasshoppers and Bush-crickets and The Wildlife of Hastings Country Park Nature Reserve.

Walk 1: Fairlight Head 

This walk takes you to a stunning view over the English Channel.

The path has a hard surface and is suitable for buggies and wheelchairs. The round trip is about half a mile and returns on the same route.

There is an extension to this route on rough but mainly level ground which is a circular route of about a mile and a half. The extension follows a path above Warren Glen and through a quarry.

Walk 2: Firehills

This route takes you towards Fairlight Cove with views over Rye Bay.

This path has a hard surface and is suitable for buggies and wheelchairs. The round trip is about a mile and returns on the same route.

There is an extension to this route on rough and steep ground, following the coast; a circular route of about 2 miles.

Walk 3: Warren Glen

There are very steep up and down sections. Ground conditions will vary depending on rainfall; it can be muddy and require walking boots. This walk is not suitable for wheelchairs or buggies.

The walk is about 2 miles.

Walk 4: Fairlight Glen

This is a walk of about 4 miles descending very steeply into and out of Warren Glen and Fairlight Glen. It can be muddy. This walk is not suitable for wheelchairs or buggies.

Signposts

There are signposts at most of the junctions in the park. These posts² generally indicate the destinations of each of the paths leaving its junction and the distances to those destinations. Many of the junctions can also be considered focal points for information about the area which surrounds them. So, this section includes pages, one for each of the posts which you will pass on the way around these walks, describing their environment and, sometimes, their history. These posts are:

You may also be interested in the Nature Reserve Map

Footnotes

1. This postcode actually takes your Satnav to the Coastguard Cottages, so look out for the Visitor's Centre and Car Park just before you arrive at the cottages. If your SatNav can cope with Latitude/Longitude co-ordinates, then N50.87425, E0.64251 will find it exactly.

2. The signposts are also called Directional Bollards. You may notice this in the key on the Hastings Country Park Nature Reserve Map.