Forest of Dean Sculpture Trail Reviews Summary

Sculpture Trail Experience

Pros:

• "The sculpture trail is well signposted but I would recommend downloading the trail map as it also explains the vision behind each piece of art."
• "Excellent place for children and adults to explore. Plenty of sculpture to find."
• "Great facilities. Lovely cafe, clean toilets, reasonable car parking charges, which you can pay for contactless by the cafe."
• "We absolutely loved the sculpture trail even in the pouring rain. Such a fantastic way to see the forest, we enjoyed all 5 miles of our walk."

Cons:

• "Some of the sculptures were a bit underwhelming, to me at least. Especially when you have to immediately turn right around and loop back on yourself."
• "Some of the sculptures could be easily missed, due to poor signage, but the sculptures are a bonus to the lovely walk through the forest."
• "Difficult to navigate and sculptures are very tired. However, the hanging stained glass window is worth finding near the top of the walk."
• "The sculptures left us cold, so after seeing the first 3 or 4 we decided to just head back."

Facilities and Accessibility

Pros:

• "Facilities are good though, and it's relatively easy to find. My teenage daughters all found the walk interesting which was great."
• "Toilets and free water available, close to the payment machine. The full Sculpture Trail took us around 3 hours."
• "There’s a cafe serving hot drinks and food, clean toilets and a children’s play area. I would recommend picking up a map for £1."
• "Nice enough walk. Was expecting a bit more from the not so impressive sculptures! The temporary ones in place were better than the permanent."

Cons:

• "It's not a walk for young families, and the trail is quite long. We spent over two hours in total, with stops at the sculptures, and did not see them all."
• "I wouldn't recommend the full trail to anyone who may struggle with mobility over distance, especially as it's rather more than undulating in parts."
• "Parking also a little expensive, but as the trail is free to all I guess it's worth it in that respect."
• "Cafe was doing a roaring trade so I presume worth a visit. Some nice cycle trails as well as walks."

Nature and Scenery

Pros:

• "Beautiful trail through the ancient historic Forest of Dean. The sculptures are definitely worth seeing and add to the experience."
• "Refreshing, plenty of space to walk around without bumping into anyone. Seen some cattle grazing on the grass sitting under the sun enjoying themselves."
• "Absolutely stunning place. You could easily lose a few hours exploring both the trail and the woodland beyond."
• "The forest is beautiful. I went in Autumn and the colours were amazing."

Cons:

• "The sculptures that we saw were not sympathetic to the environment. Just random odd shapes, some places had nothing there."
• "Hardly any sculptures on the trail. Only good thing was the amount of walking for our spaniel Bella."
• "Didn't see any Art work as think we went later when finished. However, OMG Forest of dean is the most beautiful place."
• "The full trail is 3 hours minimum so pay for a longer car parking time. When we went the ground was very wet and impassable at times."