Stanwick Lakes Reviews Summary

Play Areas

Pros:

• "The play area is great. They have a splash bit with a little river."
• "The adventure trail is fantastic for children as every 5 mins there is a new activity for them to discover."
• "A huge play area that is great for children of all ages."
• "The adventure playgrounds are ace and the assault course is perfect for the adults and teenagers."
• "Great play areas for children of all ages, including sand pits, water play areas, assault course."
• "Amazing kids play area within the Stanwick Lakes Park."
• "The main play area is great!"

Cons:

• "Got very busy which was less fun for all."
• "Was very busy though and lots of older children on smaller equipment not being watched."
• "The adventure playground looked like it would have been great if some horrible person/s hadn't set fire to it."
• "Some of the activity equipment is getting a bit broken (missing zip line seat, missing rope swing and climbing holds on the assault course)."
• "Took my 8 year old Grandson there at the weekend as it's one of his favourite places. This time it was very sad for him and me to see arsonist had set fire to the older park."
• "On weekends and during holidays when it's warm, it gets arguably too busy."
• "It’s best to avoid busy times as the park is absolutely packed and people tend not to reign in their kids and leave them to cause havoc!"

Parking

Pros:

• "Lots of car park space (£2 for 2 hours, or £4.50 all day)."
• "Straight forward parking with number plate reader at the entrance, no need to pay more than you need to."
• "Parking in the car park is relatively good value and disabled parking bays available."
• "Parking charges were reasonable on the off peak day I went."
• "Parking was only £3.60 for the day and it is free to walk around the many lakes you can find here."
• "Only found this place by chance but was only £3.60 for all day parking."
• "Parking is reasonably priced."

Cons:

• "However, we felt the parking was pretty expensive."
• "Parking for a single trip is expensive compared to other local country parks."
• "As with any park run by NH council parking is not cheap, they close the gates around 4 or 5 (best check) so dont go later than 1pm unless you want to pay several hours for no reason."
• "However carparking at peak times is not cheap."
• "Parking during weekends and holidays are more expensive than weekdays."
• "One big downside is the parking payment. Why? Why couldn’t they do an online payment platform? We had to q up just to pay for parking!"
• "But if you're taking the dog for a walk for an hour and a half then the 3.80 for all day parking is too much."

Cafe and Food Options

Pros:

• "You can also hire bicycles at fair prices too."
• "The cafe is worth a visit too. Fair prices and good quality food and drinks with friendly staff, bonus 👍."
• "The cafe is nice, good range of food."
• "Food and drinks available at average prices."
• "The cafe is reasonably priced and child friendly with great views over the lake."
• "Cafe/restaurant is reasonably priced for the location and the food is excellent."
• "There is a cafe which serves nice meals."

Cons:

• "The prices in the cafe are shocking, and resemble nowhere near the quality of the food."
• "I wouldn't recommend the Hotdog from the cafe as it's very dry and tasteless."
• "For some reason cafe was shut and offering from Snack Shack was limited and been much depleted as it was busy."
• "If you plan on buying food and drink here it is quite expensive."
• "The cafe is the weak point though - the bacon sandwiches could have done with more bacon."
• "Cafe service extremely slow God knows how they will handle a rush."
• "Food was too expensive and there was not much choice at the kiosks."

Nature and Scenery

Pros:

• "Variety of wild birds to be seen."
• "For those who crave tranquility small woodland walks are also here, along with many lakes enabling a beautiful sunset or sunrise to be seen."
• "On the walks you'll see plenty of nature as well as a viking roundhouse built purely by volunteers."
• "The water from the streams is unusually crystal clear in a lot of places."
• "Beautiful place with something for everyone! Had a lovely walk around the nature trail, very quiet for a sunny Sunday in July!"
• "Excellent wildlife spotting areas."
• "The stunning lakes are crystal clear."

Cons:

• "The water levels as of 16/01/23 is very high flooding across the paths."
• "Extemeely boring just gravel paths with trees and bushes so overgrown you can't actually see any of the lakes."
• "Few downsides to it for me were the noise of the motorway as your walking around."
• "The experience was somewhat ruined by a foul smell coming from I assume a nearby factory and the noise of traffic."
• "Let down by bad dog owners leaving their dog poo."
• "Its such a shame part of the old play area got burnt down."
• "Be prepared for a few bugs on a hot sunny day."

Facilities and Accessibility

Pros:

• "Their baby changing and disabled facilities are excellent."
• "The visitor centre has a cafe and toilets as well as a gift shop."
• "Fully equipped for changing a baby in the same place as the clean toilets with a simple baby changing table placed in there."
• "There are toilets on site."
• "Plenty of parking and we had no issues finding a space which could take our larger car."
• "Paths are pushchair and wheelchair friendly."
• "Clean toilets 🚻👌."

Cons:

• "Facilities could do with an upgrade, but doesn’t take away from the experience!"
• "The cafe is disappointing as they definitely need more staff to take orders, prepare food and clear tables."
• "Car park quite bumpy in places."
• "They are mostly stones and gravel. Not disabled-buggy friendly without good suspension."
• "Entry is free but you will need to pay for car parking - bring plenty of change as the machine does not accept cards."
• "The cafe is lovely and overlooking the lake. The food is very good, although a little expensive!"
• "The Jacket potato was good but £4.95 for a Tuna sandwich is expensive as was the parking."