Sutton Park

Had Christmas lunch here with my family 6 of us, my dad is disabled so we needed space for his wheelchair. In all the years we have eaten Christmas Dinner out this is by far the best experience we have ever had, the staff were outstanding, the head man went out of his way beyond his role to make sure we were sorted and happy and the food was amazing and in plentiful supply. Without a doubt we will definitely be booking again next year aswell as other family events through the year and get togethers. Cant praise it enough thank you so much

Places like Sutton Park make me wish I could rate up to 10 stars! Sutton Park is one of the greatest treasures of both the Birmingham area as well as the midlands at large. Taking up a large chunk of Sutton Coldfield at 2,400 acres, the park has something that can appeal to everybody.
Sutton Park is the seventh largest urban park in Europe, and it shows with a combination of meadows, wetlands, pools, woodlands, restaurants, golf courses, and even a donkey sanctuary. The park can be traced all the way back to the 9^th century and was granted to the people of Sutton Coldfield in the 1500’s. Since then the park has seen numerous developments through industry and tourism, however the current focus has largely been on reverting the grounds to the natural habitat that once was.
You can access Sutton Park from six different gates, although the entrance at Sutton Coldfield (aka ‘Town Gate’) is considered the main gate with access to the park’s visitor information center. If you haven’t visited, I suggest first checking out the Sutton Park pages on the Birmingham City Council website for a detailed map, tips, and a list of activities. You’ll want to plan your visits ahead, as on my first visit I only covered about 5% of the total park area. I plan to detail the many activities here in future reviews, but for now this is my go to for experiencing the great outdoors, taking the dog on a brisk walk, or kicking back for a read around one of the seven pools.

Often overshadowed by the more central or widely marketed attractions, Sutton Park is a must visit for locals and tourists alike.
We’ve all got parks close to where we live, why travel to Sutton? Because it’s f-​ing huge! To put it into perspective: most Brummies think of Cannon Hill Park as being fairly big; Cannon Hill covers an area of 250 acres, Sutton Park is 2,400 acres big, that’s nearly ten times the size! Even Lickey Hills Country Park is a fifth of the size of Sutton Park. It is the largest urban park in the United Kingdom and the seventh largest in Europe.
Size isn’t everything, I hear you say. To that I respond: enough with the euphemisms! Sutton Park is not ‘just’ a park; it is also a National Nature Reserve and a Site of Special Scientific Interest. It is an area that incorporates ancient and more modern woodlands, heathland, wetlands, marshes and seven (yes, seven!) lakes. It contains areas of natural countryside that have survived hundreds of years, through the industrial revolution and the expansion of Birmingham City, to present day.
Amazingly for a city park, the landscape is grazed by wild ponies and cattle. Due to this, hand wash stations are dotted around the park. Also, it’s probably best not to wear your finest posh shoes, as you are likely to be walking across fields covered in droppings from varying species.
There are six gates accessible by car and ten car parks. Parking is free in the winter, but there’s a small charge during the summer months. However, I’m a big advocate for leaving the car at home and using public transport. Why anyone would want to pollute the area with exhaust fumes is beyond me. There are two train stations serving the park; the Town Gate is a 5-​minute walk from Sutton Coldfield Station and For Oaks Station is an 18-​minute walk to Four Oaks Gate or a 16-​minute walk to Hartopp Gate.
If you get hungry and/​or thirsty there are pubs and cafés dotted around near the main entrances. My standard itinerary is to arrive via Sutton Coldfield Station, visit the playground by the entrance, then the Toby Carvery in the park to fill up on breakfast or lunch before exploring the park.
There are tons of activities that one can participate in throughout the year, including: fishing, model aircraft flying, boating, archaeological walks, fun runs, as well as two golf courses and a leisure centre on the perimeter.
So if anyone asks: another reason to visit Birmingham is that we have the second largest urban park in Europe outside of a capital city (or just say the largest in the UK).

Lovely discovery trying to find the Sutton Coldfield Delivery Office. Lovely open spaces with so much to explore. Perfectly accessible from from Sutton Coldfield Town Centre, you could get off at the train station and within a few minutes be at the park.

Love coming here in summer for a picnic. So big and lots of different stuff to see. From lakes, golf courses to types of trees I’ve never seen. Can’t finish this park in one day. Highly recommend coming here in summer.

Wonderful. Sutton Park is a rare jewel of freedom in the Birmingham conurbation with everything from lakes and pools to walks, bike trails and a visitor centre. When there, do check out the Donkey Sanctuary that works with SEN children — a lovely place to visit.

Despite once getting so lost there that I was late for a hen night, I absolutely love Sutton Park. As a walker, fond of the remoteness and relative seclusion of the countryside, areas of Sutton Park provide a quick fix, particularly in the winter months, with the convenience of being just a fifteen minute drive away. #
There are numerous entrances covering the perimeter of the park, with my nearest and personal favourite being Boldmere. There is a fabulous walk that I do from there which takes around an hour, and covers a mix of woodland and heath land with gentle gradients and often, very few people.
It has a lot of variety, with some of the gates offering more family friendly entertainment, such as children’s play areas, cafes, toilets and apparently (though I’ve not seen them) Donkeys in the summer. There is also a large area for model aircraft enthusiasts, and in the summer the buzz of miniature planes and helicopters provides a somehow comforting soundtrack.
In total, Sutton Park covers an area of 2000 acres, ranging from parkland to heath land, lakes and woodland, wetlands (which I happened upon accidently once, and can confirm that they are… up to your knees) and seven lakes boasting a wide variety of wildlife. Squirrels and rabbits are very regular visitors to the landscape, providing extra entertaining (and exercise) for your dog! Cattle and wild ponies graze there (which can be a little scary if you’re walking at dusk and a huge dark shadow suddenly looms up ahead — you have been warned!) and you can also find people horse riding through the park.
In the winter, it’s free to park in there, but there are nominal charges throughout the summer months, and some areas can get absolutely packed on hot summer days, and noisy too. Even on a hot day though, if you know where to go, you can escape the crowds (just go away from the facilities and parking).
It’s a beautiful, natural space just 6 miles north of the city, and offers the opportunity to a relaxing escape at any time of the year, lazy picnics in the summer or long walks in the winter. Idyllic.

My interest in local history once led me to get a book on Sutton Park out of the library. It was written by late local historian Douglas V. Jones and in the back, it suggested a couple of walks around the park that he had undertaken around the time of his writing the book (1982). Intrigued, I set off on one of them and it has since become my favourite walk around the park. It takes around an hour so be prepared! It takes in three of the pools in the park as well as many beautiful parts and hidden wonders.
You start off at Town Gate and turn right at the War Memorial, past the carvery and over the cattle-​grid. When the road then forks after the cattle-​grid, take the right fork and walk up until you come to the railway bridge. Walk along the grass on the left of the railway bridge towards Blackroot Bistro and you’ll come to Blackroot Pool.
Once at Blackroot, go along the edge of the pool next to the railway lines. Here there are plenty of little places used by fishermen where you can sit awhile at the water’s edge. Carry on down the path and you’ll come to a small bridge which runs underneath the railway line. You can tell if it’s the right bridge because if you shout, the resulting echo is very short and unusual. You’ll walk over a little marsh and through a gate. Once through the gate, you find yourself at the foot of a hill where the roots of the trees have formed themselves into a kind of staircase. Climb up there and you’ll find yourself near to some very very tall trees and some mushrooms.
Keep walking across the grass and you’ll find you come to a road. Turn left on this road and you’ll walk down and come out by the posh restaurant at Bracebridge Pool. Walk round the back of that and you’ll come to a bench overlooking Bracebridge Pool. Once you’ve sat and admired the view (there’s also one of those information boards nearby), carry on walking the route you were on and you’ll come to a bridge which crosses back over the railway. Go over the bridge and turn left and walk down through the forest (this part is particularly beautiful) keep walking on the main path and you should find that eventually you emerge on the other side of Blackroot Pool to which you first walked past.
Walk along the side of the pool and then down the path in the corner (near where some water runs out of the pool and off underground). This path leads you to Keepers Pool. Once there was a lido here with an outdoor swimming pool, but this was destroyed by fire and vandalism and has long been demolished. There are two paths on your left, if you take the farthest one (the concreted one) this will lead you back around to Town Gate.

Offering lakes, forests, coffee shops, restaurants, boating facilities, children’s play areas, private golf courses and much, much more, this gigantic park is a real playground for children and adults alike. If you’re into mountain biking, the varied terrain here will provide you with hours of fun, and if you have small children, both Banners Gate and Town Gate offer recently renovated playgrounds and are rife with local ice cream men during the summer months.
The park has five gates in total and stretches from Four Oaks to Sutton Coldfield town centre, Streetly, Boldmere and New Oscott. Secluded cafes and picturesque lakes can be found by parking up at either end and taking a pleasant stroll, but if you choose to visit of a sunny Saturday or a school holiday, be weary of unruly teenagers and limited parking spaces.

Sutton Park is that kind of alternative route when all you need is a bit of fresh air, some exercise or a quality day out with friends and family .
I have been visiting this park almost than monthly during the weekends with my husband and even a friend who came from Brazil for a visit once, just loved to be introduced to this huge green space.
It‘s about ten minutes from where I live so I could easily say Sutton Park is a local park for me. With several entrances to chose and nature spots to explore, even in the hotter days of the year — when it is considerably packed, — you still can find some space for jogging, cycling or taking the dog for a walk there.
Sutton park is also a good option for a meal. There are some highly recommended pubs in the area and there is no such better feeling than enjoying a drink at a pub like The Boathouse, for example.
Don’t forget to get a map of the park before visiting it. There are so free admission entrances to be explored and several pools if you fancy feeding ducks and geese.

Sutton Park has got to be the best of all parks in Birmingham but then I would say that as it’s right on my doorstep. Covering 970 hectares the park is a natural habitat for all kinds of wild life including wild Dartmoor ponies. The park is beautifully maintained by an excellent team of park rangers who know everything there is to know about park life. They’re friendly and approachable and encourage visitors to stop them and ask questions about their work. There are seven lakes within the park each with their own rich variety of plants and wildlife. They’re all open to anglers.
There’s a visitor centre 250 metres from the Town Gate entrance staffed all year round open daily from 10.00am until 4.30pm. It has a gift shop, maps of the park and educational displays.
There is plenty of parking space in the park through any of the entrances and it’s free. At weekends you will be charged £1.00 to take your vehicle in and this money goes to the upkeep of the park.
As you’d expect the park is popular with walkers, there are many great cycling paths, dog walking, nature watching, picnic and play areas. A very relaxing retreat.

Wintry, bleak, slidey, soggy underfoot. Excellent! Fantastic winterwonderland scenes.
See the ducks bounce landing on the iced up pools like returning fighter-​bombers to the Ark Royal — the poor moor hens scratching around on the edges of the ice looking for something, anything to peck at.
Familiar paths across the bleak commons now could be anywhere, camouflaged in white disguise to fool you into false routes.
Watch the kids (and not such little kids too) careering down the slopes on sleds tumbling and shrieking with terror and delight rolled into one downward whoosh.
Sutton Park, massive and marvellous — a natural magnet for all.

Great park, but don’t like the entrance fee at weekends, Get there before 10.00 am and you do not pay

Sutton Park is one of the nicer places to spend a Saturday afternoon in the Birmingham area. With four different entrances around Sutton Coldfield, the park is easy to get to and hard to miss.
It’s a large, sprawling park that is large enough to wonder around in, but, unlike Cannock Chase forest, not so big that you can easily get lost (and by «you», I mean «me» as I am directionally challenged).
There are apparently some golf courses, but I have never seen them or used them. There are several ponds, including one large one in the middle, around which the most popular walking tracks wind.
There is ample parking, though at the weekends and high season, you have to pay £1.50 for the privelege. The neighbourhood around is painfully posh, and there is NO STREET PARKING, SIR, NO SIR, so abandon all ideas of schlepping in and cough up the dough.
Depending upon your poison, there are trails for horse riding, biking, hiking, jogging, and aplenty. There is even an area for train spotters (the traditional kind, not the Ewan MacGregor kind).
There are several small places to get food, including one large restaurant, which I’ve never been in, and can’t comment on, though the décor is quite simple in a Martha’s Vineyard sort of way.
Sutton Park can get painfully soggy in the winter/​spring, even if it hasn’t rained in a few days — the earth around is quite boggy and can retain water for a few days.

This place is huge i think there is about 5 entrances. The play areas are great and we always go in the summer for picnics. There is loads of space for kids and dogs to run around.
The play areas have a wide range of different things for kids to play on for all different ages.
you will need to bear in mind this park does get very busy and car parking can be a nightmare.

I have recently revisited SuttonPark after many years of absence. The park is so much bigger than I remembered, probably because I used to stick to the same routes. The place has changed little in twenty years, I really like the open fields and grassland areas. The place has many visitors, families and dog walkers and is a good place to go to with young children as there is plenty to keep them occcupied.

Great for walking dogs. Fantastic scenery and interesting history as this was Henry VIII’s holiday hunting ground. Blackroot Bistro worth a visit. A place to chill.

Sutton park is a huge place full of woodlands, grasslands, lakes, golf courses, places to eat and childrens playgrounds to name a few.
It hosts many events, and has previously hosted the RAC Rally and Radio 1‘s Party in the park.
A great place to visit when the weather is good.

I’ve been to Sutton Park countless numbers of times, and still haven’t explored all of it. There’s plenty to do here, and hundreds of trails which you can choose to run/​cycle/​walk.
There are loads of entrances at different locations, but the Boldmere gate is probably the main one, with a small childrens fairground, vistors centre, café, and so on.
There’s plenty of car parking, a slight disadvantage might be that they are charging a £2 payment for weekends/​bank holidays now. Although this is for the whole day, there’s a lot of umming and arrring about this new charge. But to be honest it is completely acceptable, considering that you can truly make a day out of it, there’s loads to do and plenty of beautiful land to explore!

Birmingham’s largest park has all the wholesome, hearty goodness found in any other park across England. It’s fabulous very family friendly, with a play park and refreshment hut. It’s fantastic in the summer for relaxing, playing football, taking long walks and general all ages fun.
Having recently visited at the weekend, I now know that the Park stretches further than I first thought. There are lots of lakes to walk around and no less than three café/​restaurants located within the park.
I can recommend the boathouse which serves English food to a very high standard. The staff are professional and there is an a la carte menu if you fancy something a bit more upmarket.