We checked 9 Boxing Day walks near Crouch End, from the Parkland Walk to Highgate Wood, for gate times on 26 December. Updated November 2026.
Crouch End has 9 Boxing Day walks within easy reach in 2026, and this guide puts them in one place with what time each opens and closes on Saturday 26 December. Most people head for the Parkland Walk, Highgate Wood, Queen’s Wood and the hill at Alexandra Park for the view across London. Every entry was checked against the owner’s own page on 14 November 2026.
Overview
Haringey Council lists its parks and nature reserves, the Parkland Walk, Priory Park, Queen’s Wood and Coldfall Wood among them, as open 24 hours a day, and gives no exception for Boxing Day. Alexandra Park is open day and night all year round. The ones with gates are Highgate Wood, which the City of London closes at 4.30pm in winter, and Waterlow Park, which Camden locks at 4pm.
The light runs out before the gates do. The sun sets in London at about 3.55pm on 26 December, so a walk that starts after 2pm will end in the dark, and the woods and the old railway line are not lit.
Boxing Day 2026 is a Saturday, and the bank holiday moves to Monday 28 December. Great Northern runs no trains from Hornsey on Christmas Day or Boxing Day; our Haringey Christmas travel page has what is known about the Tube and buses.
Crouch End and Hornsey
1. The Parkland Walk, Crouch End’s railway walk
London’s longest local nature reserve, Haringey Council says, running along the old railway that linked Finsbury Park to Alexandra Palace. The Friends of the Parkland Walk say the line opened in 1873 and the southern section runs for just over 3km from Finsbury Park to Holmesdale Road in Highgate, passing the platforms of the old Crouch End station on the way.
The council has recorded more than 200 species of wildflower, with hedgehogs, foxes and the occasional muntjac deer.
One thing to check before you set out: the Friends flagged a long diversion in the Islington section, where walkers leave the path at Crouch Hill and rejoin it at Blythwood Road while Islington Council works on the Mount View Road bridge. Islington’s own page now calls the walk an open site without mentioning a closure, but the Friends have not posted that the diversion has lifted.
The Crouch End to Highgate stretch is in Haringey and unaffected.
The walk has a second, shorter section. Parkland Walk North runs for about 750m from Cranley Gardens to Muswell Hill and carries on into Alexandra Park; the Friends’ access page sets out three ways to bridge the 1.3km to 1.8km gap, the quietest along the Capital Ring through Queen’s Wood and Highgate Wood.
Open 24 hours a day
Address Florence Road, N4 3EY (Haringey's listing); entrances at Oxford Road, Finsbury Park and Holmesdale Road, Highgate
Access almost level at Oxford Road and Blythwood Road; steep slope at Holmesdale Road; coarse surface, muddy after rain
Cafe cafes at Finsbury Park and on Archway Road at the Highgate end
Website haringey.gov.uk/leisure-parks-culture/parks-greenspaces/parks-facilities-haringey/parkland-walk-local-nature-reserve
Good for open after dark, dogs, a long linear walk, railway history, wildlife
2. Priory Park, Hornsey
The open park on Middle Lane, with a cafe, toilets and a playground. Haringey Council says the Hornsey Local Board bought the land from Colonel Warner in 1891, and the park has held a Green Flag Award every year since 2003. Look for the fountain, unveiled in 1909 and made from 50 tonnes of Lamorna granite, now used as a planter, and the four heritage trail boards around the park.
Open 24 hours a day
Address Middle Lane, N8 8LN
Toilets yes
Cafe in the park
Access the council says all its parks are wheelchair accessible
Website haringey.gov.uk/leisure-parks-culture/parks-greenspaces/parks-facilities-haringey/priory-park
Good for buggies, children, playground, a short loop, a dog-free philosopher's garden
Highgate’s woods
3. Queen’s Wood
Ancient woodland on the slope between Muswell Hill Road and Priory Gardens, Haringey Council dates it to at least 1600, possibly far earlier, and made it a local nature reserve in 1990. Most of the trees are oak and hornbeam, and all three British woodpeckers live here.
The Capital Ring runs through it, and the paths dip and climb more than the map suggests.
Open 24 hours a day
Address Queen's Wood Road, N6 6UU
Toilets yes
Cafe Queen's Wood Cafe
Access the entrance and main paths are wide enough for a wheelchair but the council says they are not fully accessible
Website haringey.gov.uk/leisure-parks-culture/parks-greenspaces/parks-facilities-haringey/queens-wood-local-nature-reserve
Good for ancient woodland, birdwatching, the Capital Ring, joining Highgate Wood
4. Highgate Wood
Seventy acres of ancient woodland across Muswell Hill Road from Queen’s Wood, run by the City of London as a charity and holding Green Flag and Green Heritage status. There is a cafe with a terrace, a large playground and a sports field, and since October 2026 the refurbished Information Hut has a new exhibition, Highgate’s Roman Story, with one of the wood’s Roman pottery kilns on display in full for the first time.
This is the walk with a closing time. The City of London’s 2026 table has the gates closing at 4.30pm from 9 November, and it warns that the wood may shut at short notice if winds of 37mph or more are forecast, which is worth checking on a stormy Boxing Day.
Open from the morning; closes 4.30pm from 9 November; may close in high winds
Address Muswell Hill Road, N10 3JN
Parking no car park; two Blue Badge bays near the cafe, entered by the Onslow Gate
Toilets two accessible toilets, by the playground and by the cafe (Radar key)
Cafe Highgate Wood cafe, with a terrace
Access some paths tarmacked, others rough and muddy in wet weather; Highgate station five minutes; buses 43, 134 and 234
Call 020 8444 6129
Website cityoflondon.gov.uk/things-to-do/green-spaces/highgate-wood/visit-highgate-wood
Good for ancient woodland, children, playground, Roman history
5. Waterlow Park, Highgate
The terraced park on Highgate Hill, beside Highgate Cemetery, which the Friends of Waterlow Park call “a garden for the gardenless”. Camden runs it through its green spaces team as trustee of the Waterlow Park Trust, and the cafe is in Lauderdale House at the top.
It is gated, and the Friends publish the times: the park opens at 7.30am every day and, from 23 November, closes at 4pm.
Open 7.30am to 4pm from 23 November
Address Highgate Hill, N6
Cafe in Lauderdale House
Access a short walk downhill from Highgate Village
Website waterlowpark.org.uk/closing-times
Good for a short walk, the park trail from Lauderdale House, the cafe
Muswell Hill and Alexandra Palace
6. Alexandra Park
The big one for a view. Alexandra Palace says the park has been open since 1863 and covers 196 acres, with 694 recorded species of plants, animals and fungi, 38 of them rare or protected. The slope below the palace looks south across the whole of London, and the Parkland Walk’s northern section brings you in on foot from Muswell Hill.
The palace says the park is open throughout the day and night all year round; the playground closes at dusk.
Open day and night, all year; playground closes at dusk
Address Alexandra Palace Way, N22
Parking Grove car park 6am to 7pm; East Court car park 5.30am to 12.30am, last entry 8pm (non-event days)
Cafe the Grove Cafe, with toilets
Access Alexandra Palace station and the W3 bus at the park's edge
Website alexandrapalace.com/visitor-information/opening-times
Good for the London skyline, open after dark, a long loop, dogs
7. Coldfall Wood, Muswell Hill
The quieter wood, on Creighton Avenue. Haringey Council describes 14 hectares of ancient woodland, managed by coppicing and certified under the UK Woodland Assurance Standard; 150 more plant species have been recorded there since November 2006. A nature trail of numbered posts, designed for children, runs round it, with a six-page leaflet on the council’s page.
Open 24 hours a day
Address Creighton Avenue, N10 1HU
Access the only accessible entrances are Creighton Avenue West and Creighton Avenue East
Website haringey.gov.uk/leisure-parks-culture/parks-greenspaces/parks-facilities-haringey/coldfall-wood
Good for ancient woodland, a children's nature trail, a quiet walk
A little further
8. Finsbury Park
Haringey’s flagship park, where the Parkland Walk begins. Haringey Council says it opened in 1869, laid out by Alexander McKenzie, and has held a Green Flag Award since 2007. A loop takes in the boating lake and the cafe.
The park is open 24 hours a day; only the gates by the Endymion Road parking are timed, opening 8am to 4pm and locked promptly at 4pm.
Open 24 hours a day; Endymion Road gates 8am to 4pm
Address Endymion Road, N4 1EE
Parking three Blue Badge spaces at the Endymion Road entrance
Toilets yes, including a Changing Places toilet
Cafe Finsbury Park Cafe
Website haringey.gov.uk/leisure-parks-culture/parks-greenspaces/parks-facilities-haringey/finsbury-park
Good for a big loop, boating lake, open after dark, joining the Parkland Walk
9. Parliament Hill and Hampstead Heath
The hill to climb if you want the whole of London laid out in front of you, a walk west from Highgate. Heath Hands, the Heath’s volunteer charity, says the Heath is open 24 hours a day, apart from a few fenced sections that close at night.
Kenwood is the exception on the day: English Heritage lists Kenwood’s grounds, house and cafe as closed from Christmas Eve to Boxing Day 2026, so plan a route that stays on the open Heath.
Open 24 hours a day; Kenwood grounds, house and cafe closed 24 to 26 December 2026
Address Parliament Hill, Highgate Road, NW5
Access many surfaced paths; buses 210, 214, 24, 88 and C11
Website cityoflondon.gov.uk/things-to-do/green-spaces/hampstead-heath
Good for the London skyline, open after dark, hills, dogs
After the walk
The Queens on Broadway Parade opens from 12pm to midnight on Boxing Day, the Fox at the top of Park Road from 11am, and the Gatehouse in Highgate Village, a short walk from Waterlow Park, from 12pm. All three are closed on Christmas Day. Menus and booking are in our Christmas dinner guide.
How we chose
These are the walks people in Crouch End, Hornsey, Highgate and Muswell Hill head for over Christmas, all open on 26 December. Opening times come from Haringey Council, the City of London, Alexandra Palace, the Friends of Waterlow Park, the Friends of the Parkland Walk, Heath Hands and English Heritage, each linked in its entry; sunset is for London on 26 December. Times can change at short notice in storms, so check the owner’s page on the morning.
Look after a park or path that should be here, or spot something that has changed? Email newsdesk@crouchendnews.co.uk. Taken a good photograph of any of these places? Email it to newsdesk@crouchendnews.co.uk and we will add it with your name as the credit.
For more, see things to do in Crouch End, what’s on in Crouch End this month, Crouch End Christmas carols, the Haringey Christmas bin collections and where to buy a Christmas tree near Crouch End.
Frequently asked questions
Are Haringey parks open on Boxing Day?
Yes. Haringey Council lists the Parkland Walk, Priory Park, Queen’s Wood, Coldfall Wood and Finsbury Park as open 24 hours a day and gives no Boxing Day exception. At Finsbury Park the Endymion Road vehicle gates open only from 8am to 4pm.
Is Kenwood open on Boxing Day 2026?
No. English Heritage lists Kenwood’s grounds, house and cafe as closed on Thursday 24, Friday 25 and Saturday 26 December 2026. The rest of Hampstead Heath, including Parliament Hill, is open 24 hours a day.
Can you walk the Parkland Walk from Crouch End to Highgate on Boxing Day?
Yes. Haringey Council lists the Parkland Walk as open 24 hours a day. The stretch from Crouch End to Holmesdale Road in Highgate is in Haringey; the diversion the Friends of the Parkland Walk have flagged is further south, in Islington, between Crouch Hill and Blythwood Road.
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