From 26 October Hatfield Forest's car parks and café close every Monday and Tuesday, last car in 2.30pm. Shut 25 and 26 December. Parking £9 for non-members.

Hatfield Forest stays open all winter on foot, from dawn to dusk, but from Monday 26 October its car parks and café close every Monday and Tuesday. On the other five days the car park opens at 9am with last entry at 2.30pm, and the café runs 9am to 3pm. The whole forest shuts on Christmas Day and Boxing Day. Parking is £9 a car for non-members; National Trust members park free.

That is all from the National Trust’s own day-by-day opening calendar for the forest, which is published up to 31 December (National Trust).

The quick answer

  • Car parks and café: closed every Monday and Tuesday from 26 October. Wednesday to Sunday, car park 9am, last entry 2.30pm; café 9am to 3pm.
  • Christmas: closed Friday 25 and Saturday 26 December, forest and all. Open again Sunday 27 December; closed Monday 28 and Tuesday 29 as usual.
  • Cost: walking in is free. £9 per car for non-members, valid until dusk.

How the hours change through the autumn

Period Forest Entrance and Shell House car parks Elgins grass car park Café
Until Sun 27 Sep Dawn to dusk 9am, last entry 4pm 9am, last entry 4pm 9am to 4.30pm
Mon 28 Sep to Sun 25 Oct Dawn to dusk 9am, last entry 3.30pm Closed 9am to 4pm
From Mon 26 Oct, Wed to Sun Dawn to dusk 9am, last entry 2.30pm Closed 9am to 3pm
From Mon 26 Oct, Mon and Tue Dawn to dusk Closed Closed Closed
Fri 25 and Sat 26 Dec Closed Closed Closed Closed

The Monday and Tuesday closure starts on the first day of the Hertfordshire October half term, so a family walk on Monday 26 or Tuesday 27 October will find the car parks shut. Wednesday 28 October is the first half-term day you can drive in. Our October half term page has the rest of that week.

Last entry to the car park is well before dusk: 2.30pm in the winter months. The Trust says the exit gate is locked at dusk, so allow time to walk back.

Christmas week

Date Forest Car park and café
Wednesday 23 December Open Open, last car 2.30pm
Christmas Eve, Thursday 24 December Open Open, last car 2.30pm
Christmas Day, Friday 25 December Closed Closed
Boxing Day, Saturday 26 December Closed Closed
Sunday 27 December Open Open, last car 2.30pm
Monday 28 and Tuesday 29 December Open on foot Closed
Wednesday 30 and Thursday 31 December Open Open, last car 2.30pm

Note that on 25 and 26 December the calendar marks the forest itself closed, not just the facilities, which it does on no other day between now and the end of the year. Opening from 1 January 2027 is not yet published.

Parking and getting there

The Trust’s price, set from 1 March 2026, is £9 per non-member car, covering “vehicle entry from time of arrival until dusk”. Members park free.

The sat nav postcode, CM22 6NE, takes you to the Estate Office; the main entrance is about 1km further down the same road. By road it is from the M11 junction 8 roundabout along the B1256 towards Takeley, then the road opposite the Green Man pub, three quarters of a mile to the entrance car park. The M11 slip roads at junction 8 have had overnight closures this autumn: check our roadworks and travel page first.

Without a car: the Trust names Arriva’s 508 bus from Bishop’s Stortford to the Green Man, Takeley Street, then about a mile and a half on foot through the forest to the visitor facilities. The Flitch Way path from Start Hill, near Bishop’s Stortford, has two entrances into the north of the forest, and there are bike racks by the lake.

Events this winter

The Trust’s event listing for the forest currently carries its regular gentle Walk with Us hour-long walks, on alternate Wednesdays and Fridays and booked in advance, which run to February 2027. The autumn wellbeing sessions (forest bathing, breathwork, a crystal bowl sound bath) finish in October. No Christmas event is listed yet. If one is added, it will be on this page.

Other winter days out near Bishop’s Stortford

Mountfitchet Castle in Stansted Mountfitchet closes for the winter after Sunday 8 November (Mountfitchet Castle). In town, the pantomime at South Mill Arts runs from 26 November to 2 January, with Santa’s Grotto in December: see our panto and grotto page, and for the lights switch-on and the Christmas Fayre, the Christmas lights and Fayre page. Our things to do page has the free options.

What is still to be confirmed

The National Trust has published opening only to 31 December, and no Christmas events for the forest. Both will be checked again in November.