Central Forest Park

Central Forest Park is in Hanley - stretching from the City Centre to Granville Avenue and Sneyd Street.  If you cross Town Road at the back of the Potteries Shopping Centre you are on the doorstep of the park, which is great respite to tired shoppers or a great family day out! 

The Greening for Growth programme is regenerating the park, making it an attraction for everyone.

Improvements include:

• Picnic area;
• Resurfaced car park and pathways, with lighting and cctv;
• Stoke Skate Plaza;
• Safari themed adventure play facility and bouldering area; and
• the trim trail.

Coming soon! New pedestrian entrance plaza.

The new entrance plaza will transform the current enclosed, overgrown and uninviting footpath into a prominent gateway which links with the existing pedestrian crossing to form a safe, open and accessible pedestrian entrance to the park.  The plaza will have a stainless steel archway as well as a piece of public artwork called 'tree stories'.  The 6.5 metre tall metal sculpture holds leaves and motifs on its branches.  The motifs were designed by local primary school children to symbolise what the park means to them and why it is important historically.

How to get to Central Forest Park

The park lies just off Chell Street. It can be easily reached on foot from the city centre or by one of the many buses that run along Chell Street. There is a car park off Chell Street by the lake.  For an environmentally friendly route why not use the greenways?  The park can be accessed by several routes: 

• National Cycle Network route 55 runs through the centre of the park;
• Burslem-Cobridge greenway to the North; and
• National Cycle Network route 5 to the South.

 You can follow this link for a map to Central Forest Park.

Habitats and wildlife

At 49 hectares there is plenty of space away from the adventure facilities to find a quiet spot and enjoy the fresh air and nature.

The lake provides a home for a range of water birds including great crested grebes and coots. The grassland provides a home for insects.  Some unusual plants, such as wild carrot, can be found due to lime in the soil.  The mounds are made up of spoil from the coal mine. Carboniferous plant and fish fossils can still be found in some of the loose shale.

If you would like more information about Central Forest Park please contact Customer Services on 01782 234234.