Formby Beach

About

Formby Beach is ideal for families, with a large car park, picnic areas and waymarked paths to the beach, dunes and woods.

The high dunes afford excellent views across the Irish Sea and on clear days after rain, even the mountains of Cumbria can be seen.

The coast here is undergoing erosion and the tides often reveal prehistoric mud layers, some of which contain human and animal footprints. Look out for these the length of Formby Beach from Lifeboat Road northwards of the National Trust property.

The dune slacks are important for the Natterjack Toad, a nationally endangered amphibian. The many different habitats around Lifeboat Road provide homes and food for a wide variety of insects including moths and butterflies and for birds. The woodlands are managed to improve the habitat for our native Red Squirrel. 

Lifeboat Road is an excellent place to start your exploration of Sefton’s Natural Coast. The 150 acre (60ha) site has a wide sandy beach, high dunes, furrowed grassland (former asparagus fields) and a belt of pinewoods.

If you fancy exploring more off the beaten track, a walk to the south through Ravenmeols Sandhills will reward you with wide expanses of dunes, even more beach, pleasant woodlands and relics of past developments.