Idle Valley Visitor Centre and Nature Reserve

Heather Keetley

Idle Valley Visitor Centre & Nature Reserve

Reserve map

Plan your visit (https://www.nottinghamshirewildlife.org/nature-reserves/idle-valley)

Wheelchair accessible ()

Become a member (https://www.nottinghamshirewildlife.org/become-a-member)

Idle Valley is the largest reserve in our care, located just five minutes away from Retford and within an hour of Nottingham, Lincoln, Doncaster, Sheffield and Newark.

This beautiful nature reserve is one of the largest in the East Midlands and has something for everyone. Whether you’re planning a gentle stroll with the family, enjoying the treehouse play area, having a spot of lunch in a tranquil setting or are looking for somewhere to spend a whole day wildlife watching, Idle Valley Nature Reserve is the place to head to. We have a wheelchair and pushchair friendly lakeside walk too which includes a brass rubbing trail and self led den building area. Hire a discovery back pack from the cafe/shop for the children to use whilst exploring too!

Idle Valley is one of the richest birding sites in the region - look out for birds such as gadwall and little grebe in winter and breeding wading birds including little ringed plover and redshank in spring and summer. Our café and shop offer a warm welcome and a spectacular view over the reserve making it an ideal destination whatever the weather.

See our vision for Idle Valley Nature Reserve

Avian Flu: advice for visitors

Avian Flu Update - November 2025

With the increased incidence of Avian Flu and cases seemingly occurring earlier in the year, we now have plans in place year-round in case of outbreaks on our sites, in line with best practice on many other wetland nature reserves in the UK.

With a local case now confirmed in Nottinghamshire, we would reiterate our previous advice to visitors that whilst the risk of transmission from birds to people is very low, visitors should not touch any dead birds and should keep dogs away from dead or seemingly affected birds by ensuring that their pets are on a short lead. We would also urge people not to feed wild birds at our sites as this encourages birds to congregate – putting birds at extra risk and increasing the chance of direct contact with affected birds.

Dead birds can be reported online at gov.uk/guidance/report-dead-wild-birds or by calling the DEFRA helpline 03459 33 55 77.

Find out what to do if you find a dead, sick or injured bird

Dogs on nature reserves

We love dogs, but wildlife isn’t as keen!

So please keep dogs on leads at all times across our nature reserves, especially around livestock and ground nesting birds, where we ask that you keep dogs under close control.

We welcome well-behaved owners and their dogs in our visitor centre but please be considerate to those who are less confident around dogs.