Betteshanger Park
Deal, Kent
Visit any day
Country park; fossil dig listed by Visit Kent.
- Home ed
- Adventure Ed: a six-week programme for home educated children with three-hour weekly sessions of bushcraft and outdoor skills (shelter building, fire lighting, water filtration), led by DBS-checked instructors. Ages 7–11 on Tuesdays, ages 12–16 on Thursdays. £150 per child for the course. The park also runs home education forest school sessions.
- When
- Six-week blocks in school hours – Tuesdays (ages 7–11) and Thursdays (ages 12–16). Check their site for the next start date.
Why we'd go
A big country park on a former colliery, with a 3.5km smooth traffic-free cycle track that's ideal for children, mountain bike trails, bike hire, play areas and fossil hunting in the old spoil.
Watch out for
Signage is patchy, and the fossil area is sometimes cordoned off – check before promising a fossil hunt. Guided fossil hunts are for ages 7+.
Details last checked: 1 October 2026. Please check with the venue before you travel.
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