Poole Park and Upton Country Park keep their Green Flags for 2026
Poole Park and Upton Country Park hold the Green Flag for 2026, the national standard for well-managed parks. What the two parks offer visitors and families.
On this page
Poole's two big parks have kept their Green Flags. Poole Park and Upton Country Park both hold the Green Flag Award for 2026, Poole Tourism announced on 16 July, the national standard for parks and green spaces that are well managed, safe and looked after.
Poole Park
Poole Park is the town's Victorian park, laid out in the 1890s around a saltwater lake fed from the harbour. It has pedalos and boats on the lake, a miniature railway, a cricket ground, tennis courts, play areas and two cafés, and it sits between the town centre and Parkstone, a fifteen-minute walk from the station. It is the place families go when they want an afternoon that does not involve sand, and it is free.
Upton Country Park
Upton Country Park is on the other side of Holes Bay, the inner arm of the harbour: a Georgian house with a walled garden, tea rooms, wide lawns and a shoreline walk along the bay with views across the water to the town. Events run through the year in the grounds, and the car park is pay and display.
Why it matters
Green Flags are reassessed every year, so keeping two is a statement about how the council maintains its parks in a period when budgets are tight. For a visitor, the practical point is simpler: two large, free, well-kept parks within a bus ride of Poole Quay and the beach, both good for a wet afternoon and both with a café. Our things to do in Poole guide puts them in a day with the Quay and Sandbanks, and Bournemouth's own parks and gardens are the companion piece for the other end of the conurbation.
Frequently asked questions
The Green Flag Award is the international standard for well-managed parks and green spaces, run in the UK by Keep Britain Tidy and judged on standards such as safety, maintenance, sustainability and community involvement. Parks apply and are assessed each year.
Both have car parks; Upton's is pay and display. Poole Park is a fifteen-minute walk from Poole station and on several bus routes, which is the easier way in on a summer weekend.
