The 10 Best Nature & Parks in Exmoor National Park, England

An easy 2.5 mile stroll along the South West Coast Path on the halfway path around Bossington Hill, giving extensive views over the dramatically flat marsh and farmland of Porlock Vale, a landscape of national importance because of the rare flora and fauna which flourish here.

Where the lush valleys of Hoar Oak Water and the East Lyn river tumble together sits Watersmeet House, a 19th-century fishing lodge, now a National Trust shop, tea room and information point. Watersmeet House was built in 1832 as a fishing lodge by the Reverend W.S. Halliday, the son of a rich businessman. The stone for the house was quarried at Watersmeet, above the East Lyn River. Sitting in a beautiful wooded river valley, Watersmeet and its surrounds are a fantastic place to walk, and enjoy the abundant wildlife and nature of this part of Exmoor.

A woodland garden and organic showpiece of international renown, Greencombe stretches along a sheltered hillside below the tree-covered slopes of Exmoor and offers visitors an outstanding view over ancient fields onto Porlock Bay. The moss covered paths of Greencombe meander through an exceptional collection of ornamental plants that flourish beneath a magnificent canopy of oaks, hollies, conifers and sweet chestnuts. Camellias, rhododendrons, azaleas, maples, lilies, roses, clematis, and hydrangeas all flower in turn among ferns and the garden's four National Collections: Erythronium, small mountain-lilies; Vaccinium, 'whortleberries worldwide'; Gaultheria, 'whortleberries for bears'; and Polystichum, the 'thumbs-up' fern. For 50 years, Greencombe has thrived using organic gardening methods, with a riot of birds and butterflies all around. Also of interest, the garden is home to a champion English Holly tree (ilex aquifolium), the largest and oldest in the British Isles. Like all good plantsmen's gardens, Greencombe is full of rare and wonderful plants and has much to interest and delight every visitor.