On our way down to our Haven holiday park last week, we decided to take advantage of the unexpectedly fantastic weather and stop off somewhere to go for a walk & enjoy the sunshine. I loaded up the maps app on my phone and looked at the names of the areas & places we would be passing by. Moors Valley Country Park & Forest jumped out at me as it was only about 10 miles ahead & not far out of our way. After a quick google and some oohing & aahing at their website info, I directed James to head there.
We started our visit in the restaurant & all enjoyed a really delicious lunch. The menu had a great selection at fairly reasonable prices, and both of our paninis were scrumptious. The kids enjoyed their food too!
Moors Valley is home to a “play trail” – this is a fantastic concept I’ve not come across before. Along a one mile walk through the forest, are ten wooden play structures for children to explore & climb on. This was a huge hit with our girls and despite only being little Lydia could join in with a few, and Georgie gave them all a go. She didn’t always get very far, but she loved clambering about! We were able to pick up a free play trail map from the visitors centre, which was a nice touch.
The hollow wooden snakes at the Snake Pit were a particular favourite with both girls, who enjoyed crawling and running along inside. The Ant Hill was great too, as it had a slide, and anything with a slide is automatically a big hit where Georgie & Lydia are concerned.
Once we made it back to the start of the trail we gobbled up a much needed ice cream each and then headed to fab play area armed with plenty of ice cold drinks picked up in the restaurant. The play area at Moors Valley is split into two areas; one for older children, and one for babies & toddlers. We headed under their narrow gauge railway to the area for younger kids and let Georgie loose, while a tired out Lydia relaxed in the pushchair – although she did get out long enough to have a quick go on the swings!
The range of play equipment they have is great & Georgie had a great time trying every single thing out. She even did both the big slides in the older kids area on our way back through, several times each!
It was a really lovely afternoon & I’m so pleased I essentially picked it at random when we were just 10 minutes away! I really liked the dog park areas outside the park & restaurant, so we could leave Homily safe & sound, tied to link on the wall, with shade to lie in & water to drink. The human facilities were all great too!
It’s just a shame it is so far away, as I would love to return for longer some day – Georgie would love a train ride and it’s so nice for the children to be able to have so much fun in such a beautiful setting. I’d highly recommend Moors Valley Country Park to anyone visiting the area, with or without children.
I keep hearing about Moors Valley, it looks fantastic! I will have to pay a visit at some point x
We are so lucky to have this on our doorstep. I can cycle here in about fifteen minutes. You were really lucky to have the park so quiet, unless you did well timed photos lol. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the tyre swings empty.
I will have to try and pop in as we drive past all the time but have never been. Thanks