Croxteth Hall and Country Park: what's free, what's paid, opening hours for the hall, farm, walled garden and railway, and how to plan a visit around them.
By Jess R · 12 Aug 2026 · Updated 15 Aug 2026 · 11 min read
Image: L1 Local archive
Croxteth Hall and Country Park is one of the biggest public green spaces in Liverpool, but the hall itself is only part of what is here.
The estate covers around 500 acres, with woodland, pasture, ponds, streams and walking trails surrounding the historic house. There is also a working farm, Victorian Walled Garden, children's playground, miniature railway, café, regular parkrun and a changing programme of markets, tours and events.
The useful thing to know before going is that these do not all operate to the same opening times. The country park is open throughout the year, while Croxteth Hall generally opens for specific tours and events. The farm and miniature railway are separately operated and have their own prices and timetables.
For anyone living around Croxteth, West Derby, Norris Green, Gillmoss and the wider north-east of Liverpool, the park works just as well for an ordinary walk or run as it does for a planned family day out.
The short version
The country park is free and open all year, with a marked 5km walking and running route.
Croxteth Hall is not a walk-in museum. It opens for selected tours and events, including Heritage Market open days on Sunday 16 August and Sunday 13 September 2026, 11am to 4pm, £5 adults and £2 children aged two and over.
Croxteth Park Farm is separately run. Budget around £6 per person and check its site first, because its own pages show conflicting prices and hours.
The Victorian Walled Garden is open daily, 10am to 3pm, with last entry at 2.30pm. Ignore the council parks page saying otherwise, it is out of date.
The miniature railway runs weekends February to October, bank holidays and school holidays except Mondays, 11am to 4pm, £2.50 a ride.
A free parkrun takes place every Saturday at 9am.
Makers Markets are free to enter: 30 August, 27 September and 25 October 2026.
Walk through the 500-acre country park
You could come to Croxteth without entering a single paid attraction and still have plenty of ground to cover.
Liverpool City Council describes the estate as a 500-acre country park with woodland, pastures, ponds and streams, connected by a network of paths and trails. The council also publishes a Croxteth Park 5km walking and running route for anyone who wants a defined circuit rather than making it up as they go.
The scale is easy to underestimate if you normally stay around the hall, farm and main car park.
Head further into the estate and it feels very different from a normal urban park. Historic England's record of the registered park describes the River Alt, Hall Brook, woodland belts, parkland and the historic drives that formed part of the Croxteth estate.
For local runners, dog walkers and people who simply want some space, this is probably the most useful part of Croxteth.
Paths vary. Some of the main routes are straightforward, while woodland and less formal sections can become muddy after prolonged rain, so footwear matters if you intend to explore beyond the main buildings. Our guide to Liverpool's parks covers how Croxteth compares with the rest of the city's green space.
See inside Croxteth Hall, but check the date first
The biggest mistake is assuming the hall operates like a museum that opens every morning.
It does not.
Liverpool City Halls currently states that guided tours are available on selected dates, with visitors directed to the venue's current What's On listings for actual opening days. The country park can therefore be open while the inside of Croxteth Hall is closed to ordinary visitors.
If you have booked a tour, it meets at the West Entrance, the black doors directly opposite The Garden Bench. Liverpool City Halls asks people to arrive ten minutes before the scheduled start.
Croxteth Hall, a Grade II* listed country house built in phases from about 1575. Photo: Raymond Knapman, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
It is worth making the effort when the doors are open.
Croxteth Hall is a Grade II* listed country house. Grade II* is the heritage category used for particularly important listed buildings considered to be of more than special interest. Historic England dates the oldest surviving section to around 1575. Other parts were added around 1702, between 1874 and 1877, and again in 1902.
That explains why the building does not belong neatly to one architectural period.
Croxteth was the ancestral home of the Molyneux family, the Earls of Sefton, and the estate developed over centuries rather than being designed as one finished country house.
Inside, rooms including the Drawing Room, main staircase and servants' areas can be opened as part of tours and heritage days.
The service side of the house is part of the visit, not just the state rooms. Photo: Rept0n1x, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Croxteth Hall open days in 2026
As of 12 August 2026, the next opportunity advertised by Liverpool City Halls is the Croxteth Hall Heritage Market and Open Day on Sunday 16 August, followed by another on Sunday 13 September.
The hall is scheduled to open from 11am to 4pm, with last entry at 3.15pm.
Admission is currently listed as:
Adults: £5
Children aged two and over: £2
Payment is by card on the day. The visits are self-led rather than standard guided tours.
The billiard room, one of the set-piece rooms open on hall days. Photo: Rept0n1x, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
The associated outdoor heritage market is free to enter, so you do not have to pay for the hall simply to visit the stalls.
Anyone specifically travelling to see inside Croxteth Hall should check the Liverpool City Halls event listings first rather than relying on general park opening times.
Visit Croxteth Park Farm
For younger children, the farm is probably the part of Croxteth most likely to turn a walk around the park into a half-day visit.
Croxteth Park Farm operates separately from the hall and describes its animals as rare breeds. Its site also advertises small-animal petting from 10am at no additional charge beyond farm admission. Dogs are not allowed inside the farm.
The farm setting also makes more sense once you remember that Croxteth was a working estate. Farming was part of the place long before the grounds became a public country park.
There is one practical problem at the moment: the farm's own website is inconsistent about both its price and August opening times.
The homepage contains references to £5 admission, while its standard information block states £6 per person, with children under one free. The same page has carried an August notice giving hours of 10am to 5.30pm with last entry at 4.30pm, while its standard timetable says 10am to 5pm with last entry at 4pm.
That means it would be misleading to present one figure as certain.
For an August 2026 visit, budget for £6 per paying visitor and check the Croxteth Park Farm website before setting out, particularly if you are arriving late in the afternoon.
Farm rules also require visitors to use designated picnic or café areas for food and drink, and animals should only be fed with food supplied by the farm.
Use the farm café without paying for the farm
The café is useful even if you have no intention of visiting the animals.
That makes it particularly useful for morning walkers, runners and people meeting in the park.
Dogs are not allowed inside the café building, although the farm has added an indoor seating area for dog walkers in the café garden.
There is also Café 1575 connected with Croxteth Hall, but Liverpool City Halls describes both the hall and Café 1575 as seasonal and dependent on events, so do not assume it will be operating whenever the park is open.
Explore the Victorian Walled Garden
The Walled Garden deserves more attention than it normally gets.
This was originally the productive kitchen garden for the Croxteth estate. Historic England records the brick-walled garden as dating from the mid-18th century, immediately north of the hall.
It is also connected to a much bigger piece of Liverpool history.
Liverpool's botanical collection dates back to 1803 and was founded by William Roscoe. The collection has held National Plant Collection status since 1985, covering Fuchsia, Codiaeum, Dracaena and Solenostemon, and the council cares for hundreds of plant species across it.
Liverpool City Council secured £245,000 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund for work intended to give the collection a more permanent home, including restoration of the historic Peach House.
A council update in July 2025 said the Peach House project was progressing and that work was hoped to begin later that year, with an ambition to display botanical plants there by spring 2026. I could not find a newer official announcement confirming that the full project has been completed, so that earlier target should not be treated as confirmation that every planned part is now open.
The official Walled Garden opening information currently conflicts
There is another detail worth knowing before travelling.
Liverpool City Halls' Plan Your Visit page currently says the Walled Garden opens every day from 10am to 3pm, with last admission at 2.30pm.
However, the same organisation's visitor FAQ says it opens April to October from 11am to 3pm, again with last admission at 2.30pm.
Those two official pages cannot both be completely correct.
A third one is simply out of date. Liverpool City Council's parks page for Croxteth still says the garden is not open to the public. It is open. Take the City Halls hours over the parks page.
The likeliest explanation is the restoration work. The Peach House project was still under way at the last official update, and hours can shift around that sort of work, so 10am to 3pm with last entry at 2.30pm is the safe assumption rather than a guarantee for every day of the year.
If the Walled Garden is the main reason for your trip, and particularly if you are planning to arrive right on 10am, it is worth checking the Plan Your Visit page on the morning you travel.
Ride the miniature railway
Croxteth has its own miniature railway running through part of the park.
According to its current 2026 timetable, trains run:
Weekends from February to the end of October
11am to 4pm
Bank Holidays
School holidays, excluding Mondays
The railway says running two trains on a Sunday depends on volunteer availability.
A normal train ride currently costs £2.50 per person.
The railway's route leaves Croxteth Halt, passes the locomotive shed, runs through its tunnel and themed sections, crosses the level crossing and returns to the station.
For 2026 it has also been advertising a small drive-your-own tram attraction at £1 per ride.
Because the railway is volunteer-run, check its website or current social updates before promising younger children that the train will definitely be running.
Take younger children to the playground
There is no need to pay for the farm every time you bring children to Croxteth.
That makes a simple low-cost visit possible: playground, walk through the grounds and a picnic, with the farm or railway added only when you want them.
Council play areas are fenced and inspected weekly, according to Liverpool's current parks information.
Dogs are not allowed inside enclosed playgrounds, which is part of the city's wider Public Spaces Protection Order covering dogs in parks.
Run or walk Croxteth Hall parkrun
Every Saturday morning, Croxteth becomes one of Liverpool's regular parkrun venues.
Croxteth Hall parkrun is a free weekly 5km event at 9am on Saturdays. People can run, jog or walk rather than having to race.
The course uses a mixture of tarmac and trail paths through Croxteth Hall Country Park.
If you have never done a parkrun before, registration is completed once through parkrun before taking part.
There is also a practical knock-on effect for anyone not running: expect more activity around the park and café on Saturday mornings around 9am.
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Look out for Croxteth's Makers Markets
Croxteth is also being used more regularly for markets and events rather than relying solely on the permanent attractions.
Entry is free, and Liverpool City Halls says the market normally brings together more than 60 stalls selling food, drink, art, crafts and vintage items.
These dates are useful even if you already visit Croxteth regularly because they change the feel of the area around the hall.
They also mean the car park is likely to be under more pressure than it would be on an ordinary Sunday.
What is no longer at Croxteth
Older visitor guides still mention Jungle Parc, the high-wire course that used to run in the park. It has gone. The company's current sites are Warrington, Northampton and Swindon, so do not travel to Croxteth expecting the aerial course to be open.
Bringing a dog to Croxteth
Croxteth's wider park is well suited to dog walking, but it is not a case of dogs being allowed everywhere.
The farm also states that dogs are not permitted inside.
So Croxteth works well for walking a dog, but a dog limits which of the attractions you can enter once you reach the hall.
Accessibility
For people visiting Croxteth Hall itself, Liverpool City Halls says the front entrance is wheelchair accessible.
Inside there are wide corridors, ramps, a lift and accessible toilets. Accessible parking is available in the Conference Car Park using the Flint Drive entrance.
Trained guide, hearing and assistance animals are also accepted inside Croxteth Hall.
The wider country park is different from the building.
With 500 acres containing surfaced paths, trails, woodland and grassland, conditions are not uniform across the estate. Anyone who relies on a wheelchair, mobility scooter or firm step-free surface should check their intended route rather than assuming every woodland trail will be suitable.
Parking at Croxteth Hall and Country Park
For the main vehicle entrance, Liverpool City Halls advises using L11 1EH for the Muirhead Avenue entrance.
Parking is limited, cannot be reserved and is available on a first-come, first-served basis. It is free, and overnight parking is not permitted.
The approach to the hall from the main visitor area. Photo: Radarsmum67, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Current parking access hours are:
April to October: 7am to 8pm
November to March: 7am to 6pm
These are car park access times. They should not be confused with opening hours for the hall, farm, Walled Garden or railway.
Leave before 6.30pm to be safe. The council's own parks page for Croxteth gives different times from the ones above, stating that the gates are locked from 6.30pm to 7am between 1 March and 30 September, and from 5.30pm to 7am between 1 October and 28 February. Both pages are run by Liverpool City Council and both were live when we checked on 15 August 2026. Until they agree, plan your day around the earlier closing time rather than the later one.
On Makers Market days, heritage open days and other large events, arriving earlier is sensible because the same parking area is serving considerably more people.
Getting there by bus, bike or on foot
Liverpool City Halls currently lists Crompton Drive as the nearest bus stop, around a one-minute walk through the park.
Buses serve the edges of the park rather than one single entrance. Photo: Mike Pennington, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Croxteth is particularly accessible on foot and by bike from the surrounding neighbourhoods because the estate is not dependent on one pedestrian entrance.
Liverpool City Halls says there are more than ten entrances for walkers and cyclists, with cycle racks located behind Croxteth Hall.
That matters if you are coming from West Derby or the residential areas surrounding the park. The Muirhead Avenue car entrance is not necessarily the most convenient way in on foot. If you are weighing up the area itself, our Liverpool areas guide compares Croxteth and West Derby with the rest of the city.
What can you do at Croxteth for free?
You can spend several hours at Croxteth without buying a ticket.
The country park, its network of walking routes and the children's playground can all form part of a free visit. Croxteth Hall's scheduled Makers Markets and the outdoor market attached to the 2026 heritage open days are also currently advertised as free to enter.
The things most likely to add a cost are the farm, miniature railway, entry inside Croxteth Hall and individual ticketed events.
That makes Croxteth useful for different budgets. You can treat it as a free local park one week and come back for the farm, railway or an open day another time.
How long do you need at Croxteth?
It depends entirely on which parts you intend to use.
For a straightforward walk around the park, one to two hours is easy to fill.
A family visit including the playground, farm and miniature railway can stretch comfortably into half a day, particularly if you stop for food.
If Croxteth Hall is open and you want to combine the house, Walled Garden, farm and a proper walk through the estate, you could spend much of the day here.
The size of the park is the reason it works better than trying to rush between every attraction.
You do not need to do everything on one visit.
The important thing to check before travelling
Croxteth Hall and Country Park is not one attraction with one ticket and one set of opening hours.
The country park is open all year, but the hall opens around tours and events. The farm has its own admission system. The miniature railway follows a volunteer-run timetable. Even Liverpool City Halls' own pages currently disagree slightly about the Walled Garden's opening hours.
So decide what you actually want to do before leaving home.
If it is just a walk, run, playground visit or picnic, there is very little planning involved.
If your main reason for going is Croxteth Hall, the farm, Walled Garden or miniature railway, check that specific attraction on the day.
That small bit of checking makes the difference between getting the full Croxteth experience and standing outside a locked door wondering why the rest of the park is open.
