The best Autumn photography locations in Somerset

If your Autumn photography to-do list needs a refresh, here’s a full county-wide guide – from the famous names to a fair few spots you may not have tried.

I’ve written before about my favourite Autumn spots near Bristol, and I’ve got a comprehensive list of Somerset locations covering the whole year. This one sits between the two – every great Autumn location across Somerset, old favourites and new discoveries side by side.

Somerset does Autumn well. Between the Levels, the Mendips, Exmoor and a coastline that’s just as good moody as it is golden, there’s a lot of ground to cover. So I’ve grouped things by what they’re actually good for, rather than just listing them alphabetically – colour, mist, coastal drama, and a few locations that don’t fit neatly into either.

Woodland and Autumn colour

If it’s fiery leaves you’re after, these are the woods to prioritise. Horner Wood leads the list because it’s simply the best ancient woodland Somerset has – everything after it is ordered roughly by when the colour turns, so you can work through the rest of the season without turning up too early or too late.

Horner Wood, Exmoor

This one needs no introduction if you’ve spent any time in Exmoor – a vast ancient oak forest, with the best of it up the steeper slopes where the trees twist and gnarl in a way that looks almost deliberate. Give yourself proper time here, it’s a big place. I spent hours there one day last Autumn and barely scratched the surface. It is vast, and the variety of trees varies massively. It is probably my favourite woodland.

The best time to visit is mid-to-late October, when the beech and oak canopy turns properly gold and rust rather than just brown. Get there for first light if you can – the low sun catches the moss-covered trunks and picks out the mist that tends to sit in the lower combes on cold mornings. Park at Webber’s Post or Horner village and work your way up from there; the higher slopes near Cloutsham are where the oldest, most contorted trees are.

A 24-70mm covers most of what you’ll want here, though I’d bring a longer lens too for picking out individual trees or compressing the canopy from further up the combe. It’s easy to get overwhelmed by how much there is to shoot, so I’d suggest picking one small area and working it thoroughly rather than trying to cover the whole wood in a single visit.

Rodney Stoke Nature Reserve

Just along from Wells, this ancient woodland on the Mendips is mostly ash and small-leaved lime rather than beech, with some oak and hazel too – a favourite of mine that doesn’t get nearly the attention Stockhill or Ebbor do. Quieter, and the light through the canopy here in late October is lovely.

Asham Wood

An ancient woodland near Frome, tucked away in the east of the county. It’s a proper SSSI – Site of Special Scientific Interest – for a reason, and if you’re heading out to Vallis Vale or Nunney Castle (more below), it’s well worth building into the same trip.

Vallis Vale

An ancient woodland and geological SSSI near Frome, best known among geologists for De La Beche’s Unconformity – a striking exposed rock face where horizontal Jurassic Oolite sits directly on top of steeply tilted Carboniferous limestone. Also holds the remains of old lime kilns from its quarrying days. Genuinely underused by photographers, and well suited to Autumn light filtering through the valley. Pair it with Asham Wood above for a full morning in the area.

Great Wood, Quantocks and Dead Woman’s Ditch

Ancient oak combes and beech-lined tracks near the start of the Coleridge Way, with the eerily-named Dead Woman’s Ditch nearby for a wander among some suitably gnarly pollarded trees on the open common. Less known than Horner Wood, but every bit as atmospheric on a still, misty morning.

Leigh Woods

Technically North Somerset, so it sneaks in here too, though I’ve covered it at length in both my Bristol guide and my full Somerset roundup, so I won’t repeat myself – just know it’s still one of the best for hoar frost and fog later in the season.

Mist, inversions and moody mornings

Autumn is when the temperature swings really start to bite – warm ground, cold nights, and the mist and inversions that come with it. These are the locations where that pays off.

Crook Peak

One of the best viewpoints in the Mendips for a cloud inversion, and Autumn is prime time for it as the nights draw in. Grassland and limestone rather than woodland, so don’t expect colour here – this one’s all about getting above the mist rather than through the leaves. Park at the bottom, it’s a 30-45 minute walk up, and a 100-400mm lens will do a lot of the work once you’re at the top.

Deer Leap

Ten minutes from Stockhill Wood, with far-reaching views across the Levels towards Glastonbury Tor. Walk down past the standing stones for one of the better compositions in the Mendips, and watch for the cows.

Chew Stoke and the Chew Valley

Head into the hills above the village for a view of the church rising out of the mist, or drive the lanes when conditions are right – I’ve had some of my favourite ever light-ray shots here.

Burrow Mump

A miniature Glastonbury Tor overlooking the Levels, and a genuinely excellent spot for a misty Autumn morning without the crowds you’ll find at the Tor itself.

Glastonbury Tor and the Somerset Levels

The county’s most photographed location, and deservedly so – though Spring is usually billed as the best time to visit, Autumn mornings here can be just as good, particularly once the mist starts rolling regularly across the Levels. Wearyall Hill and Walton Hill remain your best bets for wider shots of the Tor itself.

Westhay Moor and Ham Wall

Part of the Avalon Marshes, and the place to be from October onwards for starling murmurations. Sunset rather than sunrise for this one.

King Alfred’s Tower

Sitting right on the Wiltshire border, this fairytale tower is one I keep meaning to get back to with a proper misty sunrise. Worth including here as much as a reminder to myself as anything. Lovely woodland around it.

Coastal drama

Somerset’s coast doesn’t do Autumn colour, obviously, but it does moody skies and dramatic light very well.

Burnham-on-Sea Low Lighthouse

The red and white striped lighthouse is a strong subject any time of year, but Autumn’s changeable weather makes for better skies than the flatter light of Summer. Time it with a high tide for reflections, or head out onto the sand at low tide for the classic angle. Keep an eye on the tide though, it comes in fast.

Berrow and the S.S. Nornen

Just along from Burnham, the wreck of the S.S. Nornen sits on the beach and photographs beautifully under a heavy Autumn sky. Low tide only for this one.

Weston-super-Mare

The Grand Pier and Knightstone Island both work well here (the latter working perfectly in stormy high tides), and an Autumn sunset lined up with the pier is hard to beat.

Clevedon Pier

Widely regarded as one of the most beautiful piers in the country, and worth the visit for that alone. Low tide gets you down to the pebbles for a wide angle shot.

Historic parkland

Nunney Castle

A moated ruin near Frome, with water still enough on a calm day to give you a proper reflection. Combine with Vallis Vale and Asham Wood above for a full morning in the area.

Mells

A picture-postcard village near Frome with a stream running through it. Quieter than Wells or the more obvious Somerset villages, and better for it.

Montacute House

National Trust parkland with a fine Lime Avenue and veteran trees, all set against honey-coloured Ham stone. The old Ladies’ Walk woodland turns a rusty brown as the beech leaves fall, and golden hour here is exactly what you’d hope for.

Tyntesfield House

A Victorian Gothic gem framed by an impressive arboretum, making it easily one of North Somerset’s best spots once the season turns. The main driveways, champion trees, and copper beeches shift into deep rusty oranges and golds by late October, with the spires of the house giving you a brilliant architectural focal point against the changing canopy. Keep in mind the main gates don’t open until 10:00 AM, so you won’t get direct sunrise access right next to the house – though by late October, the morning sun stays low enough that the directional light through the canopy is still fantastic when you walk in. The walled garden usually has a great display of squashes and late produce that is well worth getting the macro lens out for, too.

Cadbury Castle, South Cadbury

An Iron Age hillfort with a long association with the Camelot legend, and sweeping views that are well worth a misty morning visit – somewhere I’d put money on very few other landscape photographers having on their list.

A different kind of Autumn shot

Not every Autumn photo needs to be a vista. A couple of ideas if you want some variety in what you come home with.

Fungi in Somerset’s woodland

October and November are prime fungi season, and Great Breach Wood, part of the Polden Hills near Compton Dundon, is a genuine hotspot – over 600 species have been recorded there. The wooded combes around Cheddar are also worth checking. A macro lens and a lower vantage point than usual will serve you far better here than anything wide angle.

The Exmoor red deer rut

Late September into October brings the red deer rut on Exmoor, one of the most dramatic wildlife spectacles in the South West. The combes around Dunkery, Cloutsham, and the Barle Valley are brilliant places to hear the stags roaring through the autumn mist. Keep your distance, work with a long telephoto, and give the animals plenty of space – these are wild stags at peak testosterone.

Red and fallow deer at Ashton Court

If you want a far more accessible deer fix without the long drive to the moor, Ashton Court sits right on the outskirts of Bristol – and technically falls just within Somerset. The estate’s two historic deer parks hold large herds of both red and fallow deer that are much easier to track down and photograph than their wild Exmoor cousins. It’s an ideal spot for catching stags and bucks framed against autumn oaks in late October, though you still need a long lens to keep a safe, respectful boundary.

Where are your favourite Autumn spots in Somerset?

I’ll keep adding to this one as I find new locations, so if I’ve missed somewhere you love, let me know in the comments below.

Looking for Autumn prints?

Take a look at my Autumn prints category for fine art prints from across Somerset and beyond.