Mincinglake Valley Park

Mincinglake Valley Park

Photo credit, Matt Austin

Mincinglake Valley Park

Discover tranquillity with a gentle circular path through woodland, alongside a stream and an orchard. Climb Stoke Hill for wilder walks through wildflower meadows and tree-studded parkland, to enjoy the views across the city to the Exe Estuary.

Location

Main entrance off Stoke Hill and Calthorpe Road, EX4 7DR
A static map of Mincinglake Valley Park

Know before you go

Size
19 hectares
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Entry fee

Free

Walking trails

Exeter Green Circle (12 mile route)

Short walks

Access

Clear paths, but with some muddy and steep sections

Dogs

Under effective control

When to visit

Opening times

Always

Best time to visit

Any time

About the reserve

Mincinglake is one of six Exeter Valley Parks managed by Devon Wildlife Trust. 

There is easy access for visitors by car.  It is a wonderful location for manageable and pleasant stream side and wooded walks, meadows and parkland. Part of the Valley Park was created from a former waste tip, capped in the 1970s! It also caters for those who enjoy some hillier walks too, with long views towards the estuary.  

Did you know, Mincinglake comes from the old English words for ‘Nun’s lake’ a reference to the ‘Greater Polsloe Pond’, a lake created when the St. Katherines Priory nuns dammed the stream in the 12th century?

 

Ash dieback

The disease ash dieback is now widespread in the UK and is present at many of our nature reserves, so we carry out tree felling across our sites in winter months. For your own safety please observe temporary path diversions and closures.

Where possible we will leave affected ash trees in place to decay naturally as an important habitat for wildlife. We plan to only fell diseased ash trees which pose a threat to people or infrastructure. Before trees are felled, we will check whether any rare or protected wildlife is present. If it is, we will postpone or avoid felling these trees. No felling will take place during the bird nesting season.

DWT’s Saving Devon’s Treescapes project are working with communities, landowners and businesses to help make Devon's precious treescapes more resilient in the face of ash dieback. Find out how you can get involved here.

 

NOTICE: If you are visiting our reserves, please note that there have been instances of H5N1 Avian bird flu found in birds in Devon. There is very low risk to public health, but we do ask that if you come across any unusual or unexplained bird deaths on or near our reserves, please do not touch them and avoid allowing your dog to come into contact with dead birds. Please report them to Defra here or call 03459 335577 and also report your findings to DWT by email at contactus@devonwildlifetrust.org.

Contact us

Contact number: 01392 279244

Download your free map and guide to exploring Mincinglake Valley Park

Watch an introduction to Mincinglake Valley Park

Site Improvements

We’re delighted and very grateful to have been awarded a grant of £17,153 by Viridor Credits Environmental Company through the Landfill Communities Fund.  This has enabled us to make some much-needed access improvements at this site over summer 2021, namely to:

  • improve 135 metres of paths and replace some steps with a ramp
  • upgrade the wooden footbridge over the stream
  • remove some gates and stiles at key access points
  • install new way-finder posts and welcome panels

These improvements have been made in response to community feedback and we’re really excited to be able to carry out the works at this much loved local park.

We are also grateful to The Dixon Foundation for their enabling donation on this project.