Early this week, we went down to Ringwood for a short holiday and we were not far from Moors Valley Country Park. It is very well signposted with plenty of car parking spaces. Do remember the name of your parking zone! It is written on the coloured wooden leaves.
This was our first time there and both children were thrilled when they were told there are lots of climbing frames and playgrounds. We first went to the play areas which are split into two different sections – Castle and Sandworks for younger children and the Adventure Area with zip wire, space net and forts for older children.
Later, we went to the Moors lake to feed the ducks. We bought the food via the visitor centre for £1 per packet. There were lots of hungry ducks and scary swans! Then we bought a two-way steam train ticket (a family of four costs us just under £12) and took a ride on it. It had been a while since we had sat on a proper mini steam train so we were all very excited!
We then walked back to the visitor centre where we had our lunch there. We didn’t fancy taking a picnic, so I insisted to have lunch at the Seasons Restaurant. There are limited choices of hot food but each dish sounds very delicious. I had the pulled pork wrap while the children had the jacket potatoes. The food was quite expensive with each dish costing well over £7. My wrap with proper salad and fries had set me back £9.95 which is the cost of a pub meal. I did enjoy the meal but I still think it is too expensive.
After our heavy meal, we went for a long walk to explore around the park. The play trail comes with 10 unique wooden play structures set out along a 1 mile trail through the forest. Firstly, we arrived at the Giant Wood Ants Nest, followed by The House of Baba Yaga, The Snake Pit, Webs, Funnel Trap, Giant Nests, Crocodile Crossing, Tree Top Trail, Spiders Web and Timber. They had so much fun exploring each one. It took us over an hour to complete the trail and we were all very tired!
But before we headed home, we had to have a photo with the Gruffalo!
We are very impressed that there is so much stuff to do in the forest and would definitely recommend a visit.
