Daventry Country Park is a great place to visit to go for a walk, run or bike ride. There’s plenty of places for children to play and although it is close to Daventry town, when you’re walking around the country park in Daventry, you feel like you are in the middle of no-where and in the middle of nature.
Daventry country park is free to enter (with paid parking, more on that below) and open every day of the year. It is also s a great place to get some fresh air all year round and you can enjoy it in Summer, Autumn, Winter and Spring.
In this post I’m going to give you a guide on how to visit Daventry Country Park including parking, children play areas, cafe, facilities and Daventry Country Park walks because I grew up in Daventry and it’s definitely top of the list of things to do in Daventry!
Daventry Country Park
Daventry Country Park Parking
The Country Park in Daventry is easy to get to from everywhere in Daventry town and also from nearby Rugby and Northampton.
It is close to the Ashby Fields, Lang Farm and Monksmore Housing Estates and walking distance from there.
Parking at the country park is charged between 8:00 am and 8:00 pm and costs £2.00. This needs to be paid in cash as the car parking machines do not take card.
There is plenty of parking space available and when needed there is an overflow car park in the field next door. This is also charged.
There is no street parking nearby to get free parking, the nearest non-charged car park is by the Tesco Express and Queen of Hearts pub which is just a 3 minute walk from the entrance of the car park, however check the maximum time limit for this.
Daventry Country Park Map and Walks
The best thing to do in Daventry Park is to walk around the reservoir, through the fields and along the nature footpath. From the car park, it is possible to do a circular walk back to where you started which is roughly 5km.
The footpath for this circular walk is flat and therefore easy and suitable for pushchairs and young children to walk. The terrain does change a few times from a gravel path to a mud path, field and bridges but it is do-able.
When it has been raining the mud path can get quite muddy but as long as you have appropriate footwear it is ok to walk around all year round.
Aside from the main circular footpath which is easy to follow, at the top of the Reservoir from the car park, you can often walk around the edges of the cornfields which give a slightly different walk, especially if you have done the Daventry country park walk a few times before.
All of the footpaths are suitable for dog walking, in some areas and open fields you may see sheep so be sure to keep your dogs on a lead to protect the farmer’s sheep.
On Saturday morning, usually, there is the Park Run starting at about 9:00 am so if you happen for a Daventry country park walk then, you will see a lot of runners but by late morning they will have finished.
The below Daventry country park map shows where the car park is, the cafe and toilets and you can easily see the circular footpath that takes you all around the reservoir:
Daventry Country Park For Children
Daventry country park os a great place to take children, the footpaths are easy for them to walk as they are flat and there is a good-sized Adventure Playground for them to play in. This has recently been done up and has a range of swings, slides and climbing wall amongst other things and there is a smaller play area for toddlers.
The Daventry country park children’s park is right next to the car park so it is well located even if you don’t want to do a long walk. It’s definitely one of the best parks in Daventry.
There are ducks, geese and swans in the Daventry country park reservoir and there are areas where you can get close to the reservoir to see them and these are good places for children to see the animals better, a good place to go is the balcony area opposite the cafe that gets you close to the water in a safe way.
From the cafe, you can buy bird seed for the swans, geese and ducks.
Daventry Country Park Cafe
The Daventry country park cafe is open every day from 9:00 am, it closes at 5:00 pm in the summer and 4:00 pm in the winter and 2:00 pm on weekends and bank holidays.
It is located next to the visitor centre. It isn’t huge and the seating area isn’t big either so it can get quite busy around here but once you have purchased something you will find benches further up the reservoir to sit on.
At the cafe at Daventry country park you can buy coffee, tea, water, ice creams, light warm meals and snacks.
If you want a more substantial meal, the closest restaurant and pub to the park is the Queen of Hearts across the road. There is also a Tesco Express supermarket here.
Daventry Country Park Facilities
Along with a cafe, parking and children play area. Daventry country park also has toilets including a disabled toilet. Toilets are open from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm in the summer and 4:00 pm in the winter. So if you go late on a summer evening you’ll find the toilets closed. The Daventry country park toilets are located next to the cafe and visitor centre.
From my experience, these days the Daventry country park visitor centre isn’t open much but they have been working on it in 2020 to include a classroom and new rangers office, it is most likely to be open during the day on a weekend. They used to have displays about the birds and animals in the park but this might have changed. It’s worth seeing if it is open though, especially for children to look in.
There used to be bird watching huts around the park, these are no longer there but for keen bird watchers, you will be able to find a quiet area to spot birds from on one of the many footpaths.
Picnics are allowed and the field next to the car park and play area is a good place to have picnics. There are also many benches along the reservoir that you can sit on and enjoy food on.
Daventry Country Park Fishing
Fishing is allowed at Daventry country park. You’ll often see people fishing at the bottom of the rocks by the reservoir. Simply head towards the visitor centre and then make your way down the rocks to the water.
