Upton: Discover the Zoo, Nature Park and Trails

Upton combines impressive wildlife experiences with nature trails and distinctive places of remembrance. Chester Zoo is located in Upton-by-Chester and is a major focus for travel planning: you can explore extensive grounds, discover thousands of animals and choose special experiences with zookeepers. In addition, trails lead through the Countess of Chester Country Park, while the Upton Poppy Trail combines nature and remembrance.

Wildlife experiences at Chester Zoo

Chester Zoo offers more than 130 acres of extensive grounds to explore and the opportunity to discover thousands of animals. For families wishing to create a day of extraordinary encounters, there are keeper-led experiences. These include feeding penguins and having breakfast with snow leopards. These activities give your trip a clear experiential focus without requiring you to base your entire stay around a single activity.

When looking for a holiday apartment in Upton, you can therefore consider what role the zoo should play in your trip. If you would like to combine different interests, you can combine a visit to the zoo with nature, local history and a walk.

Nature and self-guided routes

The Countess of Chester Country Park offers a distinctly different way to experience Upton. The 19-hectare site includes wildflower meadows, a reedbed wetland and a nature reserve. The park borders the Upton Dene residential area directly. The distance of approximately 0.8 miles refers to Upton Cross and helps you place this location correctly when planning your own day.

There are five self-guided routes for exploring the Country Park. Leaflets about the routes are available at the Rangers Cabin. This allows you to make your stay more flexible and switch between a wildlife experience and an independently planned circuit through the parkland. The Upton Poppy Trail is three kilometres long, passes through Upton and is marked by carved poppies. It ends at a memorial bench in the Countess of Chester Country Park.

Places of remembrance and local history

The Upton Poppy Trail leads not only through the landscape but also to a place of remembrance. The Upton and District War Memorial Cross is a Celtic-style wheel-head cross with carved interlacing ornament and was designed by R H Lockwood. As a listed monument to the First World War, it was unveiled in 1921; later additions refer to the Second World War. The Memorial Cross is Grade II listed.

Another historical point of interest is the Church of the Holy Ascension. It was built by James Harrison in 1852–1854. Together with the Memorial Cross, it offers a cultural perspective on Upton that differs from the zoo and nature park.

Another activity option is Upton-by-Chester Golf Club. It welcomes visitors, golf societies and golfers for corporate days throughout the year.

Other local pages for planning your trip

If you would like to compare other destinations in addition to Upton, you can also visit the pages for Tilston, Lower Whitley, High Legh, Frodsham, Mere, Pulford, Cuddington and Alsager.

For the higher-level travel overview: Cheshire.