Dursley’s biggest
Holywell Orchard
Park or garden
2.4 ha (6 acres)0.8 km of path
10 minto walk all 0.8 km of path
3 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
0.6 mi north-westfrom the centre
Holywell Road
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: Phil Champion · CC BY-SA 2.0AOutdoors Grade
Outdoors in Dursley · parks, paths & countryside
52% of the land within 5 km of Dursley is National Park or National Landscape
The Cotswolds National Landscape reaches the edge of Dursley. 95 km of footpaths run through the town and the kilometre around it, 7.2 for every square kilometre. A park or playing field is within a 5-minute walk for 90% of residents. Dursley grades A for the outdoors: #13 of 48 in Gloucestershire. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Green space
1.8 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical UK town 2.1
Near a park
90%
of residents within 400 m
Typical UK town 83%
Footpaths
95 km
7.2 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical UK town 3.0 per km²
Protected landscape
52%
of the land within 5 km
Nearest: Cotswolds National Landscape
Character
What kind of outdoors town is Dursley?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
Protected countryside52% of the land within 5 km is Cotswolds National Landscape.A town of footpaths7.2 km of path per km², more than 99% of UK towns. The typical town has 3.0.On a National TrailThe Cotswold Way passes through.Less park per person1.8 ha of parks and playing fields per 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1.
Dursley’s strongest suit is protected countryside on the doorstep, followed by dense footpaths. Where it falls short is park space per person.
Outdoors grade
Dursley grades A for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Dursley, the dashed line the typical town. The number is the share of towns it beats; the five are averaged and the average ranked again.
A
Better than 91% of UK towns#13 of 48 in Gloucestershire · 5th of 60 UK towns its size
Public green space1.8 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
38out of
100
100
A park within a walk90%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
66out of
100
100
National Park or National Landscape52%of the land within 5 km
92out of
100
100
Footpaths7.2 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
99out of
100
100
The sea0%of the area within 5 km · Inland
42out of
100
100
Graded, never part of the overall grade (like History and Civic life). It measures what is mapped: OS Open Greenspace leaves out woodland and open-access land that isn’t a park, and OpenStreetMap’s rural paths are more complete in some places than others.
Towns its size
Dursley is 5th of 60 UK towns its size for the outdoors
The 60 UK towns and cities of 7,600 to 8,400 people with an Outdoors Grade. Hover a dot for its figures; tap one for its page.
Outdoors score: the share of UK towns each one beats
Footpath, km per km²
Dursley7.2
Towns its size2.8
Gloucestershire towns3.6
All UK towns3.0
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Dursley1.8
Towns its size2.1
Gloucestershire towns2.4
All UK towns2.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Dursley90%
Towns its size81%
Gloucestershire towns84%
All UK towns83%
Against towns its size, Dursley stands out most for path per km²: only 3 of the other 59 have more. It falls furthest behind on park space per resident, where 35 of the others do better.
Show as a table
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chipping Sodbury Gloucestershire | A+ | 5.2 | 93% | 8.2 | 29% |
| 2 | Ecclesfield and Grenoside South Yorkshire | A+ | 5.1 | 94% | 5.2 | 2% |
| 3 | Stakeford Northumberland | A+ | 10 | 100% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 4 | Bargod Gwent | A | 13.6 | 100% | 5.5 | 0% |
| 5 | Dursley Gloucestershire | A | 1.8 | 90% | 7.2 | 52% |
| 6 | Grove Oxfordshire | A | 2.2 | 92% | 4.7 | 27% |
| 7 | Brecon Powys | A | 3.2 | 86% | 3.2 | 61% |
| 8 | Stonehouse Gloucestershire | A | 1.8 | 94% | 4.6 | 36% |
| 9 | Bursledon Hampshire | A | 2.6 | 90% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 10 | Richmond North Yorkshire | A | 2.4 | 96% | 3.9 | 7% |
| 11 | Prestwood and Great Missenden Buckinghamshire | A− | 5.5 | 65% | 3.2 | 94% |
| 12 | Norton Canes Staffordshire | A− | 13.3 | 97% | 1.9 | 10% |
| 13 | Dinas Powis South Glamorgan | A− | 3 | 73% | 4.5 | 0% |
| 14 | London Colney Hertfordshire | A− | 3.7 | 96% | 4.3 | 0% |
| 15 | Burnham-on-Crouch Essex | A− | 5.3 | 86% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 16 | City of London London | A− | 2 | 100% | 11 | 0% |
| 17 | Cam Gloucestershire | A− | 2.8 | 57% | 5 | 34% |
| 18 | Pembroke Dyfed | B+ | 2.2 | 91% | 1 | 31% |
| 19 | Annfield Plain County Durham | B+ | 3.4 | 93% | 3.7 | 0% |
| 20 | Great Notley Essex | B+ | 6.4 | 79% | 4.1 | 0% |
| 21 | Runwell Essex | B+ | 5.1 | 92% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 22 | Pershore Worcestershire | B | 2.7 | 76% | 3.2 | 7% |
| 23 | Partington Greater Manchester | B | 2.8 | 100% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 24 | Edenbridge Kent | B | 2.6 | 64% | 3 | 42% |
| 25 | Rusthall and Langton Green Kent | B | 2.1 | 69% | 2.7 | 79% |
| 26 | Clayton-le-Moors Lancashire | B | 1.1 | 86% | 4.2 | 2% |
| 27 | Ashley Hampshire | B | 2.2 | 53% | 1.7 | 47% |
| 28 | Twyford Berkshire | B− | 2.4 | 86% | 2.1 | 5% |
| 29 | Berechurch Essex | B− | 2.1 | 72% | 10.4 | 0% |
| 30 | Yatton Somerset | B− | 3.7 | 40% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 31 | Denbigh Clwyd | B− | 1.3 | 96% | 2.3 | 5% |
| 32 | Buntingford Hertfordshire | C+ | 1.5 | 95% | 3.2 | 0% |
| 33 | Ystalyfera West Glamorgan | C+ | 2.6 | 84% | 0.8 | 15% |
| 34 | Bewdley Worcestershire | C+ | 1.7 | 88% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 35 | Crediton Devon | C+ | 2.4 | 89% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 36 | Paddock Wood Kent | C+ | 1.7 | 78% | 2.1 | 28% |
| 37 | Countesthorpe Leicestershire | C+ | 1.7 | 100% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 38 | Seaton Delaval Northumberland | C+ | 0.5 | 66% | 4 | 0% |
| 39 | Ammanford Dyfed | C+ | 2.8 | 70% | 1.5 | 9% |
| 40 | Holywell Clwyd | C | 0.9 | 68% | 3 | 0% |
| 41 | Mablethorpe Lincolnshire | C | 2.1 | 66% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 42 | Elworth Cheshire | C | 1.8 | 83% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 43 | Norton-on-Derwent North Yorkshire | C | 1.6 | 58% | 2.4 | 16% |
| 44 | Southam Warwickshire | C | 2.3 | 86% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 45 | Histon and Impington Cambridgeshire | C | 1.5 | 66% | 3.9 | 0% |
| 46 | Gerrards Cross Buckinghamshire | C | 2.1 | 38% | 2.3 | 2% |
| 47 | Heathfield East Sussex | C | 0.9 | 53% | 2.3 | 79% |
| 48 | Hedon East Riding of Yorkshire | C− | 0.9 | 74% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 49 | Llanharan and Brynna Mid Glamorgan | C− | 1.7 | 97% | 1.2 | 0% |
| 50 | Hilton Derbyshire | C− | 1.1 | 89% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 51 | Radlett Hertfordshire | C− | 2.1 | 60% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 52 | Rainworth Nottinghamshire | C− | 0.5 | 65% | 4.6 | 0% |
| 53 | Tenterden Kent | C− | 0.8 | 58% | 1.8 | 48% |
| 54 | Cotgrave Nottinghamshire | C− | 1 | 47% | 4.1 | 0% |
| 55 | Godmanchester Cambridgeshire | C− | 1.6 | 66% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 56 | Highworth Wiltshire | C− | 0.4 | 59% | 4.1 | 0% |
| 57 | Clowne Derbyshire | C− | 1.4 | 67% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 58 | Spencers Wood and Three Mile Cross Berkshire | D | 0.7 | 78% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 59 | Old Windsor and Wraysbury Berkshire | D | 1.2 | 52% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 60 | Treorchy Mid Glamorgan | D− | 1 | 57% | 1.6 | 0% |
The map
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Dursley’s built-up area.
Green space: parks, gardens, playing fields and play spaces, named or not.© OpenStreetMap contributors · Contains OS data © Crown copyright · Natural England / NRW
Places to walk
Parks to walk in, in and around Dursley
The biggest is Holywell Orchard, 2.4 ha (6 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
The Cam Play Area
Play space
0.0 ha (0 acres)
0.4 mi northfrom the centre
Playground
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Close to home
9 in 10 Dursley residents live within a 5-minute walk of a park
Each square is 1 in 100 residents: green lives within 400 m of a public park, garden or playing field (Census 2021 output areas against OS Open Greenspace).
Within 400 m (90%)Further (11%)
Dursley90%
Towns its size81%
Gloucestershire towns84%
All UK towns83%
About 800 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 16 playgrounds are mapped in and around the town, about one for every 496 residents.
National Parks & National Landscapes
National Parks and National Landscapes around Dursley
Protected landscapes within 30 km, by direction and distance from the edge of the built-up area; circle size shows each one’s area. National Landscapes were called Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty until 2023.
National ParkNational LandscapeThe 5 km the grade counts
National Landscape
Cotswolds
At the edge east2,041 km²since 196652% of the land within 5 km
Official site52% of the land within 5 km of Dursley is National Park or National Landscape, more than 92% of UK towns.
Footpaths & waymarked walks
Dursley is on the Cotswold Way
95 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Dursley and the kilometre around it, 7.2 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0). Bars show each route’s kilometres within 2 km of the town.
NationalLocal
Cotswold Way11.8 km
Wotton-under-Edge Cotswold Gateway Route 20.6 km
Cotswold Way (Stinchcombe Hill by pass)0.3 km
The Cotswold Way, a national route, passes Dursley.
Waymarked walks are OpenStreetMap walking routes. Public rights of way are only as complete as the map in each area.
When to get out
The best walking months in Dursley: May to July and September
The town’s 1991–2020 averages (Met Office HadUK-Grid) and the daylight at its latitude. Outlined months have 12½+ hours of daylight, highs of 15 °C or more and little rain for the town.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight (h) | 8.3 | 9.9 | 11.7 | 13.8 | 15.6 | 16.6 | 16.2 | 14.6 | 12.6 | 10.5 | 8.7 | 7.8 |
| High (°C) | 8 | 8 | 10 | 13 | 16 | 19 | 21 | 21 | 18 | 14 | 10 | 7 |
| Rain (mm) | 94 | 66 | 61 | 62 | 71 | 69 | 72 | 87 | 70 | 99 | 104 | 104 |
March is the driest month (61 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 21 °C). Winter days are short, about 8 hours of daylight in December, and 104 mm of rain falls in December, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 39 nights a year. The climate in Dursley →
Things to do
5 viewpoints, 16 playgrounds and the nearest beaches
Mapped within 2 km of the town in OpenStreetMap, against the typical UK town its size per resident. Named places are listed with directions; unnamed ones are only counted.
The nearest beaches
Dursley is inland. These are the nearest named beaches, measured from the edge of the town.
Fossil Beach12 mi from Dursley’s edge
DirectionsSugar Loaf Beach23 mi from Dursley’s edge
DirectionsLadye Bay26 mi from Dursley’s edge
DirectionsClevedon Beach27 mi from Dursley’s edge
DirectionsGood to know
Check the water before you swim. The Environment Agency tests designated bathing waters from May to September and publishes a rating for each beach.
Every named place, with directions
Viewpoints 5
Topograph0.7 mi from town
DirectionsDrakestone Point0.8 mi from town
DirectionsPlus 3 viewpoints without a name on the map.
Hills and peaks 7
Whiteway Hill0.3 mi from town
DirectionsBreakheart Hill0.3 mi from town
DirectionsDownham Hill198 m (650 ft) · 0.5 mi from town
DirectionsCam Peak0.6 mi from town
DirectionsRushmire Hill1.2 mi from town
DirectionsPlus 2 hills and peaks without a name on the map.
Nature reserves 2
Breakheart Quarry0.2 mi from town
DirectionsRackfields Nature Reserve1.0 ha · 0.6 mi from town
DirectionsPlaygrounds 16
Cam Leap Play Areain town
DirectionsCam Play Areain town
DirectionsLittlecombe Playgroundin town
DirectionsPlus 13 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Next door
The outdoors in nearby towns
The nearest towns of 1,000+ within 12 miles. Tap a town for its outdoors page.
CamWotton-under-EdgeKingswoodCharfieldLeonard Stanley and King's StanleyBerkeleyDursley
ABCDOutdoors Grade
| Town | Outdoors | Green space, ha per 1,000 | Near a park | Protected within 5 km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dursley | A | 1.8 | 90% | 52% |
| Cam 1.3 mi | A− | 2.8 | 57% | 34% |
| Wotton-under-Edge 3.3 mi | C+ | 0.4 | 32% | 60% |
| Kingswood 4.0 mi | A | 2.1 | 100% | 45% |
| Charfield 4.5 mi | B+ | 1.3 | 100% | 22% |
| Leonard Stanley and King's Stanley 4.5 mi | A | 2.0 | 100% | 51% |
| Berkeley 4.5 mi | C+ | 0.9 | 49% | 3% |
Leonard Stanley and King's Stanley, 4.5 miles away, grades A, the best next door: every resident lives within 400 m of a park.
Questions about the outdoors in Dursley
What is the biggest park in Dursley?
Holywell Orchard, 2.4 ha (6 acres), with 0.8 km of path. The Cam Play Area (0.0 ha) is second. 2 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the town or within 400 m of it.
Is Dursley near a National Park?
It covers 2,041 km² and was designated in 1966.
What are the best walks near Dursley?
3 waymarked walking routes pass within 2 km of the town, including the Cotswold Way, Wotton-under-Edge Cotswold Gateway Route 2 and Cotswold Way (Stinchcombe Hill by pass).
What is the nearest beach to Dursley?
Fossil Beach, 12 mi from the edge of the town, then Sugar Loaf Beach (23 mi). Dursley itself is inland.
How many people in Dursley live near a park?
90% of residents live within 400 m, about a 5-minute walk, of a public park, garden or playing field (Census 2021 output areas against OS Open Greenspace). The typical UK town is 83%.
When is the best time of year for walking in Dursley?
May to July and September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Is Dursley good for walking?
For paths, yes: 7.2 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 99% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 38% (1.8 ha per 1,000 residents).
How is the Outdoors Grade worked out?
From five measures, each placed among UK towns of 1,000 or more: public green space per resident, the share living near a park, National Park or National Landscape within 5 km, footpaths per square kilometre, and the sea within 5 km. It is a character grade and isn’t part of Dursley’s overall grade.
Sources
Where Dursley’s outdoors figures come from
- Parks and green space: Ordnance Survey OS Open Greenspace (parks and gardens, playing fields, play spaces, and their access points). Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026, Open Government Licence v3.0.
- National Parks and National Landscapes: Natural England and Natural Resources Wales boundaries, areas and designation dates, Open Government Licence v3.0.
- Footpaths, walking routes, beaches and things to do: © OpenStreetMap contributors, Open Database License (ODbL), via Geofabrik, 16 October 2026.
- Historic parks, listed buildings and monuments: Historic England, National Heritage List for England, Open Government Licence v3.0.
- Rain and temperature: Met Office HadUK-Grid 1991–2020 averages for the town; daylight calculated from its latitude.
- The sea: ONS Countries (December 2024) boundaries clipped to mean high water. Residents near a park: ONS Census 2021 output areas.
- Grade: TownRatings’ Outdoors Grade, ranked against UK towns only.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.