Some of Staffordshire’s best-loved green spaces including Cannock Chase have been earmarked for investment and improvement. Country parks at Cannock Chase and Chasewater, and the 92-mile Staffordshire Way will receive an £18 million investment in the coming years.
Long term plans include:
• Redeveloping visitor facilities at Marquis Drive to reflect the Chase’s status as a National Landscape and internationally important habitat for plants and wildlife, while keeping facilities away from the sensitive Special Area of Conservation (SAC).
• Upgrading the Innovation Centre and south shore area of Chasewater Country Park to improve the facilities for the local community and visitors from further afield, with a focus on healthy activity within a beautiful, natural environment.
• Relaunching, improving and promoting the Staffordshire Way, which runs through Cannock Chase from Mow Cop in the north to Kinver. As well as promoting physical activity and enjoyment of the countryside, the scheme has the potential to support local businesses and communities to promote tourism.

More information

The National Landscape currently has funding available for projects that conserve and enhance the natural beauty of the Chase. Therefore please let us know your ideas and what you would like money for and we will send over an application form for you to complete. You need to be based in or close to Cannock Chase. Previous projects that have been given funding include installation of bird and bat boxes, creating wildlife gardens, heritage projects, wildlife surveys to name a few.

More information

Join one of the new guided walks from Marquis Drive Visitor Centre and discover more about the wildlife and nature on Cannock Chase. 26th May is a Butterfly walk, and then there are guided walks with emphasis on the local reptiles organised for 27th and 30th June. All walks only £5 per person. 

Help Alex the adder find his Cannock Chase friends on the children's Nature Trail. £2 per child trail maps and sheets can be collected from the Cannock Chase Visitor Centre at Marquis Drive.

E-mail cannockchasemarquisdrive@staffordshire.gov.uk to book your place on a guided walk or pop into the Visitor Centre on Marquis Drive to pick up a nature trail. Open Thursday to Sunday from 10am to 3.30pm.

Come along to the family friendly amphibian and reptile day at the Cannock Chase Visitor Centre at Marquis Drive on Thursday 30th May. Find out more about the wildlife on Cannock Chase with the expert team from Amphibian and Reptile Groups of the UK (ARG UK) and book on one of the 2 short guided reptile safari walks with pond dipping at 11am and 2pm. There will be plenty of art and craft activities too with an opportunity to make "magical" clay adder amulets. Book for the walks on the day or e-mail angela.julian@arguk.org

Experience #MagicofWalking by getting out and about this bank holiday weekend and enjoying the last week of May by getting out into the Countryside.

A range of walks of various lengths can be found on the National Landscape website. There are trails from Cannock Chase Forest Centre here and Wolseley Visitor Centre is hosting Wildfamilies outdoor events through the week.

Join a walking talk with Shugborough's Head Gardener around the beautiful walled garden. The children can discover nature on a trail around the grounds from 25th May to 2 June.

To find out what to expect on the smaller walks around Milford Common, Brindley Heath and RAF Hednesford, take a look at the videos of the trails so you can plan your visit to the Chase.

The Access Guide to Cannock Chase will also help. It includes information on facilities available at 21 locations from car parks, nature reserves, the visitor hubs and attractions with details on the sensory experiences at each location too.

But even when May is over keep up the walking, get out in nature and enjoy the countryside around Staffordshire.

More Walks

Booking is now available for the National Landscapes Association Annual Conference. This year it is taking place in nearby Shropshire at Harper Adams University from 3rd to 5th July 2024. Included in the programme is a field trip to Cannock Chase and we are hosting a workshop on Accessibility with Direct Access who worked with us on our Access audit and guide.

Book here