Berkshire, England

Horseshoe Lake Activity Centre slipway

Launch — A purpose-built concrete slipway (OpenStreetMap way/1308638932: leisure=slipway, surface=concrete), the watersports centre's single official launching area; launching from anywhere else on the lake is not permitted.

Parking — A free 23-space council car park on Mill Lane (2.1m height restriction, closed 7pm-7am) sits beside the lake; the centre's own on-site car parks are locked whenever the centre is closed.

Access — Launching your own paddleboard or kayak is only through the operator's pre-bookable Day Launch (10am-5pm), booked and paid online in advance with no walk-ins and no payment taken at the centre. A signed waiver is required in advance for every participant, and a buoyancy aid is compulsory on the water; motorised craft, inflatable dinghies and pool toys are excluded, and access to the lake or centre outside opening hours is prohibited.

Season — The centre operates April to October.

Regulations — The lake is owned by Bracknell Forest Council and leased to the operator, who controls all access; there are no site byelaws. Fishing is not permitted on the lake, and interfering with wildlife may be an offence under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

This slipway launches onto Horseshoe Lake, a flooded gravel pit in the Blackwater Valley near Sandhurst, run as the Horseshoe Lake Activity Centre. The operator hires paddleboards, kayaks and open canoes, alongside an open-water swim loop.

The lake takes its name from the horseshoe-shaped island near its north-western corner, managed as a breeding refuge for black-headed gull, common tern and oystercatcher. The wider 19.38-hectare site lies within the Blackwater Valley Area of Special Landscape Importance and is managed as a Suitable Alternative Natural Greenspace for the Thames Basin Heaths Special Protection Area.

The River Blackwater runs along the lake's southern boundary, marking the Berkshire/Hampshire border, and Moor Green Lakes nature reserve adjoins to the west. Winter brings wigeon, gadwall, tufted duck and goosander to the water, alongside breeding birds and invertebrates recorded around the site through the year, including grasshoppers, crickets, dragonflies and butterflies.

Nearby

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Lakeview Italian Cafe

The activity centre's own on-site café, at the launch itself; serves hot and cold drinks, sandwiches, cakes and ice creams with indoor and outdoor seating.

Website

Horseshoe Lake Activity Centre glamping

Bell-tent glamping on the activity centre's own site, open to the public by advance booking; bell tents sleep up to four with a shared campers' kitchen; seasonal.

Conditions to check

Overhead cable

High-voltage power lines on pylons cross part of the site; stepped dinghy masts are banned from the car park because of them.

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Boat traffic

The lake is shared with RYA-affiliated dinghy sailing, windsurfing and organised open-water swim sessions run by the operator.

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Other

The lake is subject to seasonal blue-green algae, which the operator monitors with water testing and treats when levels rise.

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Other

The site has two ditch outlets, one into the River Blackwater and one into Moor Green Lakes to the west.

Source

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Location data

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