Access at Shorne Woods Country Park

At Shorne Woods Country Park we have an eco-friendly visitor centre and restaurant, fishing lakes, trim trail and picnic and play areas, including 292 acres of beautiful woodlands, wetlands and meadows to explore. We have everything you need to spend a day enjoying the best of Kent's countryside.

If you have other accessibility queries in advance of your visit, contact us:

• email: kentcountryparks@kent.gov.uk
• call: 03000 413500.

Or download our full Shorne Woods Country Park accessibility guide (PDF, 4.3 MB).

Visitor centre and café

Our café and gift shop are on the ground floor of the visitor centre and accessible through automatic double doors at the main entrance. Seating is available both inside the visitor centre for customers using the café facilities as well as at picnic benches outside on a hardstanding and grass café garden which are accessible in dry weather for wheelchairs.

Find out more about our café.

Changing Places and accessible toilets

We have a Changing Places toilet located next to the kiosk block on the far side of the car park, which can be accessed on tarmac paths. This can be opened with a RADAR key.

We have one unisex accessible toilet within the main visitor centre and also a further unisex accessible toilet in the toilet block by the playground which is open at peak times. Both of these facilities can be reached via easy access pathways and ramps and do not require a RADAR key to access them.

Toilet facilities are available at all times when the car park is open to visitors, even if the café and shop are closed.

Meeting room

The Chestnut Room is on the first floor of the visitor centre and is available for hire on weekdays and weekends. The Chestnut Room is accessible via a lift and has its own unisex accessible toilet within the room. Also available within the Chestnut Room is a hearing induction loop.

Book our Chestnut Meeting Room.

Mobility scooter hire

We have Tramper mobility scooters available for hire. Our Trampers are rough terrain mobility vehicles that can help you explore more of the park.

Before hiring a Tramper for the first time, you will need to complete a 25 minute practical induction session. To pre-book your training session call 03000 41 47 47. You must be able to get on and off the Tramper unaided, as our staff are not trained to help with this.

Trampers cost £2 for a 2 hour session. To book call 03000 41 47 47.

Disabled parking

There are 20 hard standing allocated disabled spaces which are located in the main car park nearest to the visitor centre.

The visitor centre entrance is approximately 20 metres away and can be accessed via a ramp to the main entrance. In addition, there are a further 45 spaces on hard standing that are within 50 metres of the visitor centre entrance and a further 200 spaces on loose stone surfaces.

If you are a Blue Badge holder, purchase an annual season ticket in advance of your visit. The annual season ticket gives you access to all of our country park car parks free of charge during the year.

To purchase your season ticket call 03000 41 72 72 and have your Blue Badge number and credit or debit card handy for reference.

Easy access trails

We have 2.5 kilometres of easy access pathway that are way marked with orange and orange chequered arrows and provide access to some of the central areas of park as well as the view point, the playgrounds and the trim trail. The purple trail in the main park is unsurfaced in places, but has no steps, so is the most accessible of the other way marked trails.

View a map of Shorne Woods Country Park (PDF, 2.6 MB).

Accessible fishing swims

We have 2 accessible fishing swims available on the fishing lake.

Play area

We have an inclusive and accessible play area which can be reached by the easy access pathway. One of the areas is on level ground, with rubber safety surfacing and is surrounded by a fence, but can be accessed through a level gateway. The other is on a small incline with a bark surface which makes the ground underfoot more uneven.

Our play area includes:

• easy access ramps
• a wheelchair swing
• an in-ground inclusive roundabout suitable for wheelchairs.

The play area is surfaced with rubber ‘wetpour’ safety surfacing. The all-weather, impact absorbing surfacing helps prevent injuries while children are playing.