Moors Valley Country Park is outstanding, a special combination of fun, magic and nature. We were blown away by the marvellous play areas, enchanting play trail and beautiful woodland.
The Play Trail
The Play Trail is a route that guides you through the woods to 9 hidden play areas and the Tree Top Trail.
You can explore a Giant Wood Ants’ Nest
wander the Enchanted Woods
make music at the House of Baba Yaga
crawl through the Snake Pit
brave the Bewlidernest
fly through the Hawk House
soar along the Tree Top Trail
sneak past the Spiders
pick your way through the infested waters of Crocodile Crossing
and scramble up Timber.
The Paths
The Play Trail is about a mile long and took us about 2 hours to complete with a lot of stopping and playing.
The paths are clearly marked and I did not have any problems pushing an all-terrain buggy.
The Miniature Railway
The Moors Valley Railway rumbles through the park (with seasonal opening hours). This is a miniature railway that connects Lakeside and Kingsmere stations.
Everything Else!
There are other marked trails to try – fitness trails, walking trails, cycling trails, audio trails and even a Hawk Walk, which is a walk through the forest with free flying hawks (this needs to be booked in advance)!
Also on offer is Go Ape Tree Top and Segway Adventures,
an orienteering course, a golf course with Footgolf and a family activity area with pitch and putt and equipment hire.
Where to Eat?
There is a cafe and two picnic areas – one next to the lake and railway and another between the Visitor Centre and the forest.
The latter has life-size sculptures of the Gruffalo and the Gruffalo’s child.
The Play Areas
The fantastic play areas are divided into the Adventure Area, for older children, and the Castle and Sandworks area, for younger children.
The Adventure Area
The Adventure Area has:
- a large slide with a climbing wall
- a climbing wall
- a climbing boulder
- a zip wire
- a basket swing
- a large rope climbing frame
- a huge wooden fortress with a long tube slide, tunnels and rope bridges
- rope swings.
The Castle and Sandworks
The Castle and Sandworks has equipment including:
- a multi-play with a slide and easy to climb steps
- another slide
- a large multi-play shaped like a house with a slide, fireman’s pole, climbing wall and ropes to climb on
- toddler swings made of ropes
- a wooden train
mechanical diggers you can operate- wooden animals
- an obstacle course
- springers
- spinners
- sand construction areas with buckets, chutes and pulleys.
Visit the Moors Valley Country Park website
Further Information
Nearest Town: Ringwood
County: Hampshire
Nearest Postcode: BH24 2ET
Opens: Daily
Cost: Free
Where to Eat: Bring a picnic or eat in the Visitor Centre cafe.
Facilities: Toilets, accessible toilets, ice creams, snacks, cafe, picnic areas.
How Long We Spent There: 4 hours
Buggies: Buggy friendly. Note that this is not wide enough for a buggy but there is a path that allows you to skip past it.
Parking: Large car park but it is very busy at peak times.
Cost of Parking: Various charges, from £2 per hour. Please see their website for full details.
Wildlife You Might See: Ducks, swans, birds and insects.
Information Written: April 2017
Information Checked: October 2022
Ratings
Our visit to Moors Valley Country Park and the Moors Valley Country Park Adventure Play Areas in Ringwood is summarised below and you can add your own rating under ‘User Rating’ or in the ‘Add Comment’ section below.
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Before taking part in any activities or visiting any places listed, you should make appropriate checks to ensure high quality provision, a safe environment is provided and to check all these details are up to date before you visit and/or take part. We accept no liability (to the fullest extent permitted by law) for the quality of the activities provided or places listed or for the accuracy of any information given.
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