Salthill Quarry Local Nature Reserve

Wildflowers lining a footpath that leads to a woodland watched over by Pendle Hill

Salthill Quarry by Alan Wright

A chiffchaff perched on a branch in a woodland

David Longshaw

Close-up of a field of bright yellow cowslips by Jon Hawkins

Jon Hawkins - Surrey Hills Photography

Soak up rainbow-bright wildflowers, skittering butterflies and beautiful birds on-high.

Location

Salthill Quarry,
Lincoln Way
Clitheroe
BB7 1QL

OS Map Reference

SD 755 426
A static map of Salthill Quarry Local Nature Reserve

Know before you go

Size
8 hectares
P

Parking information

On the main road

Walking trails

Excellent footpaths around the site.

Access

The site has an excellent collection of footpaths. There are some steps at the southern end of the reserve.

Dogs

Under effective control

When to visit

Opening times

Open at all times.

Best time to visit

Spring to Summer

About the reserve

Can you believe that Salthill Quarry once lay at the bottom of the ocean? Now, this lofty nature reserve is a haven for some of Lancashire’s most spectacular flora and fauna, as well as the fossilised remains of Crinoids (sea lillies); the only clue to the reserves undersea history. Take a break on Fiona Bowley and Jon Fenton’s ‘Crinoid Seat’, whose carved panels depict the polo mint-like crinoids as they would have lived beneath the waves.

Salthill Quarry is a wildflower Eden. Sunny fields of cowslips open up during spring, and summer sees bird's-foot trefoil, wild strawberry, common knapweed, lady's bedstraw, scabious and agrimony dust the landscape with kaleidoscopic colour. June brings blooming bee and fragrant orchids between posts 6, 7, and 8, while July is the best time to see the purple flowers of betony, delicate meadow sweet, and buttery rough hawkbit in the meadow. August brings the stunning blue cones of autumn gentian (or felwort) and spiky carline thistle.

Don’t miss a ramble through the woodland, where ash and hawthorn trees dominate the canopy and dog rose, field rose and sweet briar grow along the woodland edge.

Salthill Quarry’s wildflowers attract a fantastic range of insects, which in turn encourage birds to flourish. Seek out the azure common blue butterfly on hot summer days, try your best to keep up with the frantically fluttering orange tip butterfly and admire the distinctive six-spot burnet moth. Common green and field grasshoppers also shelter among the grasses, while in the trees, singing blue tits, great tits, goldfinches and bullfinches provide the perfect soundtrack. Then there are the summer migrants: blackcap, willow warbler, garden warbler and chiffchaff.

The best way to experience the best of Salthill Quarry is to explore the Geology Trail, a circular walk that takes in ten of the best spots on the reserve. At each spot, use your iPad or smartphone to scan the QR code on the numbered post and unlock fascinating insights into the area. Or, why not click here to view the information and print it off for your stroll?

Contact us

Kim Coverdale
Contact number: 07841 996722

Environmental designation

County Wildlife Site
Local Nature Reserve (LNR)
Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI)