Willen Lake


Willen Lake is a visitor attraction and public park in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire The site is owned by , which is an independent, self-funded charity that cares for and maintains over 6,000 acres of green space across the city.
Willen Lake is Milton Keynes' most popular park attracting in excess of 750,000 visitors a year. It comprises 180 acres of landscaped parkland which surround around 100 acres of water across two lakes. Both lakes are balancing lakes. The southern lake offers a wide range of activities on and off the water, whilst the northern lake offers a more natural and tranquil setting, ideal for quiet walks and spotting wildlife. There are large events held on the site throughout the year, including Comedy Central's FriendsFest

Attractions

Operating

The park consists of a number of leisure attractions including:
The lake is one of the largest purpose-built stormwater balancing lakes in the UK. The lake is designed to take surface run-off from Milton Keynes, the largest of a number designed to do so. The lake has capacity for an additional level increase of 1.3 metres, equivalent to a once in 200 years event. Unlike most of the rest of the UK, the city has separate storm and foul sewers, so sewage pollution is not a significant problem.
The lake is surrounded by a mixture of open parkland and woodland, which forms part of the wider Ouzel Valley Park. The lake is divided by the A509 road, which is the main route into Milton Keynes from the M1 motorway.