We love exploring, especially in nature, so today we headed for the beautiful Auckland Castle Deer Park. We love visiting Durham, in fact we live just 20 minutes away from Durham City and the whole county offers so much for families to enjoy.
Auckland Castle was once the home to the Prince Bishops of Durham, the deer park was created over 800 years ago by the Prince Bishops and was used as their very own hunting grounds. With over 150 Acres the parkland still retains many of its medieval features, such as the fishing pond and the woodland paths.
Auckland Castle is currently closed due to covid but the Deer park is still open for the public to enjoy.
We parked in the town centre and walked to the entrance for the park, which took around 5 minutes, we walked down by the river and then hiked up to the deer house, then we walked over the bridge and wandered further. Up hills, through meadows and open fields and through woodlands. The boys loved it, as this is exactly their cup of tea and love nothing more than being out in nature. We found so many different Toadstools and Mushrooms, birds, a few butterflies, conkers and we even found some Deer poo! On your walk you will find a few benches dotted around if you need a rest and there are plenty of places to throw a blanket down and enjoy a picnic. We did find the remaining few wildflowers and various bugs.
** Please do not pick or touch mushrooms and toadstools if you are unsure as to what they are, some are very dangerous to humans and your dogs.**
The terrain here is not the best, with uneven footpaths (most are just little bits in the grass) with tree roots and muddy in places. If you are going down by the river it is a steep walk down and then a steep hike up the hill to the deer house. Parts of the path here would be ok with a pushchair and wheelchair but you won't get far, maybe down to the bridge and back.
There is a temporary road in place for vehicle access during the conservation work. There is also livestock dotted around so please keep dogs on a lead. No access to the interior of the deer house but you can see from the exterior anyway.
The Deer park is managed by the Auckland Project who manage 7 properties
*The Deer park
*Mining Art Gallery
*Auckland Tower
*Auckland Castle
*Spanish Gallery (Work in progress)
*Walled Garden (Work in progress)
*Faith Museum (Work in progress)
Once everything opens you can get an Auckland Pass for around £34 for a family of 5
Important Info
Open from 7am - 5pm
No Toilets, closest ones are in Bishop Auckland Bus Station (the mall toilets are closed)
Free Entry
Parking is in the town centre and is chargeable, but good value.
Terrain can be difficult in places sturdy footwear is a must
Dogs to be kept on a lead
Construction traffic running through (we didn't see any)
Livestock
Sat Nav
DL14 7QJ
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