Address: Great Notley, Braintree, CM77 7FS, United Kingdom
Phone: +443330132900
Rating: 4.4
based on 131 reviews.
Parking
Pros:
"The parking meters are cashless so it makes it easy and convenient."
"Parking is easy to sort with some numberplate recognition and paying when you leave."
"The car park is easy to get to and we have always found a parking space easily."
"Parking is easy and convenient."
Cons:
"Car park is over priced and avoided by most. Easily one of the more expensive car parks in Essex and doesn't provide value for money."
"Parking is a little on the steep side."
"Parking can be expensive if you don't keep an eye on the time."
"Parking isn't particularly cheap, starting at £2.30 for the first hour."
"Car park fees were not cheap but reasonable, especially if you plan to stay more than 4 hours."
"Parking to expensive."
"The country park parking charges are HIGH!"
Café and Food Facilities
Pros:
"Lovely little information centre/cafe right near the car park, too."
"The cafe on site had a good range of food, drinks and ice creams."
"A small cafe serving hot & cold drinks and food was open with seating outside."
"Staff are all lovely in the cafe, where you can pop in and grab a bite to eat or a drink."
"The café currently offers outdoor seating and takeaways, serving a range of sandwiches, snacks and drinks, with menus changing seasonally."
Cons:
"Cafe could have been better (a menu board would help)."
"The cafe is not very good. Weak milky coffee and a very dry bacon bap."
"Cafe was closed, but worth looking at Cafe Plaza just south of the park if you're planning on eating."
"Cafe open but strangely parking not free."
"The cafe seems to close a bit early too."
"It's just a shame the coffee shop seemed to be closed for the long term."
"Cafe with covid systems in place we arrived at 1pm and the cafe had very little to eat but did have hot drinks."
Play Areas and Activities
Pros:
"The climbing frames and activities for the kids are great and well maintained."
"For pre school kids this will be a wonderland they don't want to leave especially on a school day when it's quiet."
"Great for kids of all ages with lots of climbing frames, swings, rope bridges and much more besides, spread out across a wide area."
"The high rope area is brilliant but there are lots of fun playground areas and places to explore that are free."
"Small child loved the play trail and the Sky Ropes!"
"The kids loved the various slides, climbing frames and other activity bits dotted along the walk."
"Wonderful park for all ages. Loads of play equipment for children of all ages."
Cons:
"Quite a few areas for the kids were roped off due to being fixed - the zip wire being one of those which we were looking forward to the most."
"Yet again there were at least 5 or 6 pieces of play equipment fenced off and out of action."
"Some items are in need of a spot of maintenance as are a bit stiff for younger children to be able to use and the sand pit was missing numerous trowels that were no longer attached to their chains."
"Water feature out of use and ropes course closed. Cafe open but strangely parking not free."
"Everything's gone or been cornered off. Wheres the large climbing set gone? Wheres the water play gone? Was litrally in and out in 30mins! Waste of time."
"Loads of stuff cordoned off, disappointing."
"Some of the equipment is starting to show its age, with parts either missing or cordoned off."
Cleanliness and Maintenance
Pros:
"It's always clean and tidy and well signposted."
"It is a lovely clean park with lots of open space, sand pit etc."
"The park is always well maintained and clean."
"Really nice park, clean and well kept."
"It was clean and well maintained."
"Lovely and clean and spacious."
"Beautiful surroundings and well maintained site."
Cons:
"A bit muddy in places this time of year, and center itself is just a café no maps or wildlife info."
"The dog waste bins were overflowing with human rubbish."
"There were empty plastic bottles & sandwich wrappers scattered around."
"Good Day, In fact when I last visited it was not a good day! I was disappointed when finding out and discovering the lack of bins. Scattered with litter around the park, and smashed glass!"
"If I had to comment on my biggest criticism, it would be the complete lack of litter bins."
"The water play facility and a lot of the play trail look like something from an apocalyptic movie with more vegetation growth and barriers than play equipment."
"The staff keep on top of it and broken items are repaired quickly, plus it hosts some great events such as park run and star gazing."