Improvements on the way for Butser Hill
July 7, 2025
The highest point on the South Downs chalk ridge is being improved for visitors.
Improvement works to Butser Hill car park started last week and are expected to last for around six weeks.
The work is being carried out by Hampshire County Council, which owns and manages Queen Elizabeth Country Park.
These much-needed upgrades will make the car park safer, more accessible, and more in keeping with the beautiful surroundings of the nature reserve and ancient monument which include a number of ancient burial mounds.
The updates include:
- A safer one-way system
- Clear signage and marked parking bays
- Landscaping and planting to help the car park blend into its surroundings
- Repairs to the road verges leading up to the car park
- Fencing to prevent parking on the South Downs Way
What you need to know during the works?
- The main car park will be closed for three weeks from 7 July while the works are carried out.
- Temporary parking for around 25 cars will be available next to Butser Kiosk.
- Parking will be limited throughout the project, so please consider exploring the other areas of Queen Elizabeth Country Park, where there is plenty of parking available.
The project is being supported by the National Grid Landscape Enhancement Initiative and the National Park Authority.
A spokesperson for the county council said: “Thank you for your patience while we carry out these improvements. We’re looking forward to welcoming you back to a much-improved Butser Hill experience very soon.”
At 271m, Butser Hill is one of the crown jewels of the National Park and a remaining fragment of a much larger ancient chalk grassland habitat that once stretched across the region.