Hothfield Heathlands Nature Reserve — Attraction in Ashford

A great and unique place to visit; one of the last remaining natural bogs and heathlands in Kent with a diverse range of flora and fauna that is pleasing to see still in a natural state. We visited specifically to try and find Drosera rotundifolia (the round-leafed sundew) growing natively wild, and discovered quite a few populations despite the unusually hot weather drying up most of the bogs! There were also a number of orchids present and fauna in the form of damselflies, a viviparous lizard, longhorn cattle and Konik ponies. There are various pathways around the site and markers are position on posts for easy traversal. A pleasant site to walk around with varied topography and habitats, ranging from fens, to bogs, to open heathland, to woodland, to meadows. I can imagine the site is quite different in it's usual wet and boggy state following rains and will definitely visit again in future. There is a large car park opposite the entrance and wooden walkways allow access to the interesting boggy areas during the wettest of weather. A...

This is a great reserve and unique in Kent as it is Kent's only acid bog. 4 main signposted walks taking you to different areas. The heath is a mosaic of different habitats including woodland, fen, bog, and the old common. Dogs are welcome and it is very popular with dog walkers but it must be remembered this is a nature reserve which is grazed by livestock, and contains sensitive areas with ground nesting birds such as nightjar and snipe, so please stick to the foot paths and keep dogs under control. It is a great place for a walk with dog and/or family but gets very muddy in areas. Wonderful for wildlife watching. It is the only place in Kent where youvcan find keeled skimmer, heath spotted orchid...

Lovely place for a stroll through woodland and the countryside including some wetland. There are some long horned cattle in the woods, they're quite tame but I don't think it would be wise to try and touch them. They were not worried about dogs being around them on their leads. In the outer areas there are fields with loose Ponies in, dog owners are asked to keep leads on their dogs. The whole area is large and there are plenty of places where you dog is allowed off. On the whole the pathways were very good with just a few areas that were a little muddy. The area does have some slopes but overall it's not too hilly. There is free parking too which makes a nice change. Definitely an area I...