Portishead’s biggest
Lake Grounds
Park or garden
10 ha (26 acres)1.9 km of path
25 minto walk all 1.9 km of path
15 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
Centralin the middle of Portishead
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: David Dixon · CC BY-SA 2.0B+Outdoors Grade
Outdoors in Portishead · parks, paths & countryside
Portishead is on the coast, on the King Charles III England Coast Path
The sea makes up 47% of the area within 5 km. Footpaths add up to 79 km in the town and the kilometre around it, 3.3 for every square kilometre. Parks and playing fields in Portishead add up to 2.0 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. Portishead grades B+ for the outdoors: #15 of 49 in Somerset. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Green space
2.0 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical UK town 2.1
Near a park
82%
of residents within 400 m
Typical UK town 83%
Footpaths
79 km
3.3 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical UK town 3.0 per km²
Protected landscape
0%
of the land within 5 km
Nearest: Mendip Hills National Landscape
The sea
47%
of the area within 5 km
A coastal town
Character
What kind of outdoors town is Portishead?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
On the coast47% of the area within 5 km is sea; 20 beaches mapped.Hills with a view11 mapped viewpoints, about 10× as many per resident as the typical town its size.On a National TrailThe King Charles III England Coast Path passes through.
Portishead’s strongest suit is the sea, followed by its views.
Outdoors grade
Portishead grades B+ for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Portishead, the dashed line the typical town. The number is the share of towns it beats; the five are averaged and the average ranked again.
B+
Better than 71% of UK towns#15 of 49 in Somerset · 27th of 60 UK towns its size
Public green space2.0 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
44out of
100
100
A park within a walk82%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
51out of
100
100
National Park or National Landscape0%of the land within 5 km · None within 5 km
31out of
100
100
Footpaths3.3 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
66out of
100
100
The sea47%of the area within 5 km
98out 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
Portishead is 27th of 60 UK towns its size for the outdoors
The 60 UK towns and cities of 24,200 to 28,500 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
Portishead3.3
Towns its size3.7
Somerset towns3.0
All UK towns3.0
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Portishead2.0
Towns its size2.5
Somerset towns2.0
All UK towns2.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Portishead82%
Towns its size83%
Somerset towns83%
All UK towns83%
Portishead falls furthest behind on park space per resident, where 38 of the 59 others do better.
Show as a table
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lee-on-the-Solent Hampshire | A+ | 5.7 | 96% | 3.7 | 1% |
| 2 | Yate Gloucestershire | A+ | 4.3 | 99% | 6.8 | 11% |
| 3 | Stroud Gloucestershire | A+ | 4.6 | 79% | 5.8 | 70% |
| 4 | Sevenoaks Kent | A | 8.1 | 76% | 3.8 | 70% |
| 5 | Stalybridge Greater Manchester | A | 5 | 82% | 4.8 | 12% |
| 6 | Ashington Northumberland | A | 5.6 | 83% | 3.9 | 0% |
| 7 | Penarth South Glamorgan | A | 3.5 | 83% | 4.1 | 0% |
| 8 | Newport Isle of Wight | A | 1.8 | 80% | 3.8 | 37% |
| 9 | Ash and Ash Vale Surrey | A | 4.3 | 72% | 5.4 | 20% |
| 10 | Huntingdon Cambridgeshire | A | 5.7 | 99% | 4.4 | 0% |
| 11 | Woodley Berkshire | A | 5 | 81% | 4.3 | 1% |
| 12 | Lancing and Sompting West Sussex | A | 1.8 | 80% | 3 | 37% |
| 13 | Totton Hampshire | A | 1.6 | 94% | 4.4 | 50% |
| 14 | Burntwood Staffordshire | A− | 5.3 | 81% | 3.4 | 12% |
| 15 | Larkfield Kent | A− | 5.6 | 75% | 3.4 | 27% |
| 16 | Rickmansworth Hertfordshire | A− | 2.9 | 81% | 4.4 | 11% |
| 17 | Ewell Surrey | A− | 7.5 | 89% | 4.4 | 0% |
| 18 | Stretford Greater Manchester | A− | 3.7 | 92% | 4.9 | 0% |
| 19 | Tadworth and Epsom Downs Surrey | A− | 3.4 | 65% | 5.3 | 16% |
| 20 | Gorleston-on-Sea Norfolk | A− | 1.4 | 81% | 3.2 | 17% |
| 21 | Little Hulton Greater Manchester | A− | 8.6 | 87% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 22 | East Grinstead West Sussex | A− | 1.6 | 87% | 3.7 | 58% |
| 23 | Wilmslow Cheshire | A− | 4.4 | 90% | 4 | 0% |
| 24 | Newton-le-Willows Merseyside | A− | 5.2 | 99% | 3.1 | 0% |
| 25 | Daventry Northamptonshire | A− | 4.1 | 99% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 26 | Herne Bay Kent | B+ | 2.3 | 83% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 27 | Portishead Somerset | B+ | 2 | 82% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 28 | Haverhill Suffolk | B+ | 2.4 | 91% | 5 | 0% |
| 29 | Longbenton Tyne and Wear | B+ | 3.3 | 80% | 6.2 | 0% |
| 30 | Thatcham Berkshire | B+ | 1.9 | 87% | 3.1 | 27% |
| 31 | Fleetwood Lancashire | B+ | 2.7 | 92% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 32 | Cheadle Hulme Greater Manchester | B+ | 3.9 | 80% | 4.3 | 0% |
| 33 | Bradley Stoke Gloucestershire | B+ | 2 | 93% | 5.3 | 0% |
| 34 | Darwen Lancashire | B | 2.2 | 89% | 4.5 | 0% |
| 35 | Newton Aycliffe County Durham | B | 2.1 | 94% | 4.1 | 0% |
| 36 | Rugeley Staffordshire | B | 1.2 | 94% | 2.7 | 37% |
| 37 | Witham Essex | B | 1.9 | 94% | 4.1 | 0% |
| 38 | Egham Surrey | B | 4.1 | 63% | 4.9 | 0% |
| 39 | Broadstairs Kent | B | 1.7 | 76% | 3.1 | 0% |
| 40 | Atherton Greater Manchester | B | 3.8 | 83% | 3.1 | 0% |
| 41 | Bushey Hertfordshire | B | 3.1 | 77% | 4 | 0% |
| 42 | Rhyl Clwyd | B | 1 | 84% | 2.2 | 7% |
| 43 | Droitwich Spa Worcestershire | B | 2.5 | 84% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 44 | Evesham Worcestershire | B− | 1.7 | 80% | 3.5 | 4% |
| 45 | Thetford Norfolk | B− | 2.9 | 65% | 5.1 | 0% |
| 46 | St Austell Cornwall | B− | 1.2 | 71% | 2.5 | 7% |
| 47 | Ashton-in-Makerfield Greater Manchester | B− | 2.6 | 93% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 48 | Melton Mowbray Leicestershire | B− | 3.3 | 84% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 49 | Hindley Greater Manchester | C+ | 2.5 | 77% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 50 | Coseley West Midlands | C+ | 1.4 | 84% | 4.7 | 0% |
| 51 | Newquay Cornwall | C+ | 1.6 | 75% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 52 | Horley Surrey | C+ | 1.9 | 84% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 53 | Stratford-upon-Avon Warwickshire | C | 1.6 | 84% | 3.2 | 0% |
| 54 | Walton-on-Thames Surrey | C | 1.6 | 81% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 55 | Golborne Greater Manchester | C | 3 | 66% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 56 | Frome Somerset | C | 1.3 | 78% | 2.4 | 9% |
| 57 | Wickersley and Bramley South Yorkshire | C | 1.7 | 77% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 58 | Wickford Essex | C | 2.4 | 59% | 3 | 0% |
| 59 | Ormskirk Lancashire | D | 1.5 | 80% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 60 | Wisbech Cambridgeshire | D | 1.2 | 79% | 1.4 | 0% |
The map
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Portishead’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 Portishead
The biggest is Lake Grounds, 10 ha (26 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
The Vale
Park or garden
1.7 ha (4 acres)0.1 km of path
2 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
0.7 mi eastfrom the centre
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Avon Way Children''s Play Area
Play space
0.1 ha (0 acres)
Centralin the middle of Portishead
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Close to home
8 in 10 Portishead 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 (82%)Further (18%)
Portishead82%
Towns its size83%
Somerset towns83%
All UK towns83%
About 5,000 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 23 playgrounds are mapped in and around the town, about one for every 1,146 residents.
National Parks & National Landscapes
The Mendip Hills National Landscape is 8.9 mi away
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 Park
Brecon Beacons
18 mi north-west1,350 km²since 1955
Brecon Beacons National Park covers 1,350 km² and has been a National Park since 1955.
Footpaths & waymarked walks
Portishead is on the King Charles III England Coast Path
79 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Portishead and the kilometre around it, 3.3 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0). Bars show each route’s kilometres within 2 km of the town.
NationalLocalOther waymarked
Gordano Round18.2 km
King Charles III England Coast Path: Old Passage, Aust to Wain's Hill, Clevedon12.4 km
Clapton Circuit5.2 km
Prior's Wood2.5 km
Loop Walk1.3 km
Cadbury Camp hill walk, Cadbury Camp, Bristol Countryside0.5 km
The King Charles III England Coast Path, a national route, passes Portishead. Close to home, the Gordano Round has 18 km of local walk within 2 km of the town.
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 Portishead: 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 | 12.5 | 10.5 | 8.8 | 7.9 |
| High (°C) | 9 | 9 | 11 | 14 | 17 | 19 | 21 | 21 | 19 | 15 | 12 | 9 |
| Rain (mm) | 94 | 60 | 60 | 54 | 57 | 56 | 68 | 84 | 64 | 91 | 95 | 98 |
April is the driest month (54 mm) and August the warmest (highs of 21 °C). Winter days are short, about 8 hours of daylight in December, and 98 mm of rain falls in December, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 19 nights a year. The climate in Portishead →
The coast
The coast and beaches near Portishead
47% of the area within 5 km of Portishead is sea. 20 beaches are mapped within 5 km, 4 with a name.
Sugar Loaf Beach0.0 mi from town
DirectionsLadye Bay2.2 mi from town
DirectionsClevedon Beach2.9 mi from town
DirectionsThe King Charles III England Coast Path passes the town.
Sea: the area outside the ONS coastline (mean high water). Bathing water quality is published by the Environment Agency (England) and Natural Resources Wales; check it before swimming.
Things to do
11 viewpoints and 23 playgrounds
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.
11Viewpoints10.3× towns its size3Hills and peaks6Nature reserves6× towns its size23Playgrounds0.7× towns its size1Campsites1Slipways
Every named place, with directions
Viewpoints 11
Portishead Pierin town
DirectionsPortishead Point0.0 mi from town
DirectionsRaven Ubertop0.1 mi from town
Directionsview of quarry0.1 mi from town
DirectionsPlus 7 viewpoints without a name on the map.
Hills and peaks 3
Nature reserves 6
Middle Hill Common1.5 ha · 0.1 mi from town
DirectionsPortbury Wharf Nature Reserve48 ha · 0.1 mi from town
DirectionsClapton Moor Nature Reserve40 ha · 0.8 mi from town
DirectionsWeston Moor Nature Reserve0.8 mi from town
DirectionsWildlife Corridor0.7 ha · 0.8 mi from town
DirectionsPrior's Wood64 ha · 1.2 mi from town
DirectionsPlaygrounds 23
Brampton Way Parkin town
DirectionsCharlcombe Rise Playgroundin town
DirectionsCheviot Meadow Playgroundin town
DirectionsHeaven's Field Play Areain town
DirectionsVillage Quarter Play Parkin town
DirectionsPlus 18 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Campsites 1
Glenny Wood Scout Camp Site1.0 mi from town
DirectionsSlipways 1
Plus 1 slipway 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.
AvonmouthPillNailseaClevedonBackwellLong AshtonPortishead
ABCDOutdoors Grade
Pill, 3.7 miles away, grades A+, the best next door: every resident lives within 400 m of a park. Pill and Long Ashton have at least twice Portishead’s green space per resident. None of the neighbours has a protected landscape within 5 km either.
Questions about the outdoors in Portishead
What is the biggest park in Portishead?
Lake Grounds, 10 ha (26 acres), with 1.9 km of path. The Vale (1.7 ha) is second. 3 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the town or within 400 m of it.
Is Portishead near a National Park?
Yes. Brecon Beacons National Park begins 18 mi north-west of the town’s edge. It covers 1,350 km² and has been a National Park since 1955. The nearest protected landscape of any kind is the Mendip Hills National Landscape, 8.9 mi away.
What are the best walks near Portishead?
6 waymarked walking routes pass within 2 km of the town, including the Gordano Round, King Charles III England Coast Path: Old Passage, Aust to Wain's Hill, Clevedon and Clapton Circuit.
How many people in Portishead live near a park?
82% 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 Portishead?
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 Portishead good for walking?
For paths, yes: 3.3 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 66% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 44% (2.0 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 Portishead’s overall grade.
Sources
Where Portishead’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.