Surrounded by the river in Crane Park the reserve is a mosaic of woodland, scrub, ditches, ponds and reedbed that has grown up since it stopped being used as an industrial area in the mid-20th century. Crane Park Island now provides a home for many important and rare species and is an important place to learn about the River Crane as it flows downstream towards Isleworth.

At the entrance to the reserve is the Shot Tower, a Grade II listed building formerly used for lead manufacture. It was restored by the Trust in 2004 as a visitor centre, with an exhibition, education rooms and a firth floor viewing area. It is currently opens to the public every Sunday.

Crane Park Island is a multiple Green Flag award winner.

Crane Park is the site of the once notorious Hounslow Gunpowder Mills, built where the island is today. There were other mills along the river as far back as 1066, producing swords, oil and flour. After the mills closed, and a brief period as an ornamental boating pond before it became derelict, the pond was drained to create the reserve in the 1981. London Wildlife Trust has managed it since 1986. The site has been surveyed by English Heritage under a project aimed at discovering, recording and managing the archeological remains left in the park. Further investigations into Crane Park’s history are due to be undertaken as part of a new London Wildlife Trust project called Explosive Histories, which started in November 2016.