Keyhaven River slipway, Saltgrass Lane
Keyhaven River is a tidal creek that drains behind Hurst Spit, a shingle bank running out toward the Solent from the Hampshire coast near Milford-on-Sea. It lies within the Lymington and Keyhaven Marshes, an expanse of saltings and mudflats recognised internationally for its wintering wildfowl and waders.
The river presents a large sheet of water at high tide, but at low water it dries to a scatter of channels crowded with private moorings; New Forest District Council manages more than 300 moorings at Keyhaven. The marked channel to Keyhaven Quay dries completely at the lowest tides below a green buoy at the end of Long Reach, filling again as the tide rises, and the entrance bar itself almost dries at low water springs.
Hurst Spit, the shingle bank enclosing the river, runs for about a mile and a half from the Hampshire shore towards the Isle of Wight and carries Hurst Castle, a Henry VIII-era fort, at its tip. A 1996-97 stabilisation scheme rebuilt the bank with dredged shingle and added a rock revetment of larvikite boulders shipped from Norway near the castle end, and the council continues to maintain the spit through periodic shingle recycling.
The surrounding Lymington and Keyhaven Marshes, a 738-hectare reserve managed by the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust, sit within the Solent and Southampton Water Ramsar site and Special Protection Area, the Solent Maritime SAC and the Hurst Castle and Lymington River Estuary SSSI, with the lagoons behind the seawall additionally protected as the Solent and Isle of Wight Lagoons SAC. The marshes are internationally important for wintering wildfowl and waders, including dark-bellied Brent geese and black-tailed godwit.
Nearby
Garden centre tea room off Lymore Lane, with vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free options.
Touring caravan and camping park at Shorefield Country Park, on Lymore Lane, open to individual bookings with power supply and toilets on site.
WebsiteConditions to check
The constriction of the tidal flow caused by Hurst Spit produces strong tidal streams and spiky waves mixed with areas of flat water caused by upwelling, with spring rates at the narrows reaching about 4 knots.
SourceThe river dries to channels congested with private moorings at low water, and the entrance bar almost dries at low water springs.
SourceThe quay and slipway are often in use by a resident boatyard on weekdays, and the quay is also used by fishing vessels and small ferries, including the Hurst Castle ferry.
SourceA sand bar known as The Trap extends about 60 metres into the Solent close to Hurst Castle's round tower, near the spit's tip, causing abrupt changes in the water state.
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