The South West is a region of dramatic contrasts. Made up of two National Parks, 14 Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and 638 km of coast, the region contains a diversity of landscapes that support a remarkable combination of wildlife and geological heritage some of which is very rare.
The landscape varies from the rolling downlands of the Cotswolds, the chalklands of Wiltshire and Dorest through the hidden steep valley landscapes of Devon and Cornwall to the high exposed moorlands of Dartmoor and Exmoor. There are broad vales of major rivers, the low lying, flat peatlands of Somerset and Avon moors, the silty clay of Levels of Somerset and the sandy, lowland heaths of South East Dorset. The coastal landscapes vary from low marshes and dunes to towering, rocky cliffs. In between there are mobile, shingle beaches, deep estuaries and lower, softer cliffs.
Please click on subjects below to find out more and the best areas to see examples of the South West?s Natural Environment.
