Blog

The last time we went to Otley Chevin was 7th February 2016. I know this because an hour after returning home I went into labour with Jess- she was born a tiring 47 hours later. Perhaps this is the reason it’s taken so long to come back here.

So as I write this in the car drove home I’m hoping there’s no repeat of that outcome after a little walk at 31 weeks!

Distance: lots of different routes you could take, we did about 4K.

Access: if you have a buggy, stick to the Bridleways, whilst some of the footpaths are fine others are extremely steep/muddy/rocky. We tried a buggy today and I’m just pleased I had an excuse to leave all the pushing to the hubby! Would be fine to take little bikes around- as many families were doing.

Parking: various car parks, unmarked spaces so gets tight at times and busy on sunny days. See the car parks here; https://www.leeds.gov.uk/docs/chevin%20map.pdf

Facilities: Not great to be honest, two cafes though so head there for toilets and food. Lots and lots of benches and a picnic/ ball games area.

Route: Lots, but today we kept it short. If you look at the link to the pdf map above, we parked opposite the Cheerful Chilli and tea room, and walked East straight towards Caley Wood. We then went straight ahead over the board walk and left at the end to turn back past the wetland. And then followed the path back to the car!

We had every intention of Jess walking this with us, but she had a total meltdown in the car, and after 20 minutes of repeated “I want to go in the pram”, we took the easy option.

After getting her own way, she was on good form on the way round, asking lots of questions about the things we spotted on the way round.

There’s some really good wooden sculptures and interesting things to do. If you fancy doing a ‘can you see’ style activity whilst you go round here are some ideas;

• Baby elephant sculpture
• A wooden bridge over wetlands
• Wooden horse sculpture
• Fallen tree
• A rocky crag
• Ruins of a cottage
• An animal’s burrow
• A newly planted tree
• Surprise view
• A den
• (If you’re lucky!) A red kite

At some point I’ll upload an activity sheet for here!

There are some lovely views over Otley and Almscliffe Crag for a picnic stop (or as Jess says ‘snic-snic’), and plenty of benches around for snack stops and to enjoy the views.

If you have the time and inclination head up to Surprise View (or even drive up if you haven’t seen it)- really spectacular views and well worth the trip.

For lazy days there’s a picnic area with lots of space for ball games if it’s not too busy.

In all it’s a lovely place to spend a couple of hours wandering round- any longer and no doubt you’ll need a cafe trip to use the toilets, and little ones might start to lose interest. Have fun exploring!!

Rachel xxx