Maybe you’re like us; you’ve tried the Room on the Broom trail at Anglers, and perhaps have even seen the signs there for Haw Park Wood. But why try it when such a fantastic trail nearby? PLENTY of reasons. This woodland is amazing, gorgeous actually. The perfect place to go searching for a pixie village!
Facilities: The visitor centre has toilets, indoor crafts and games, and a new cafe with a good selection of hot and cold food. There’s a good play area too.
Route: There are a number of paths in the Wood (map here) but be warned that the signs in places have definitely fallen away so don’t rely on them.
Parking: Pay and display at the visitor centre.
Accessibility: The paths are flat with no stiles, but it can get muddy in places with really narrow paths.
From the car park turn right along the bridleway and eventually you’ll get to the woods (it’s a bit further than we anticipated but worth it, and Jess walked it all so don’t get put off).
There are a few things to see in these woods! Our purpose was to find the pixie village that is rumoured to be there! It isn’t signposted, so you have to hunt (but basically it’s behind this sign at the centre of the woods, where the five paths meet).
And let’s face it, it’s definitely more of a pixie hamlet than a village with only a couple of doors on trees. But we did spot a pixie swimming pool (water in a tree stump) and a pixie theatre (toadstools on a nearby tree).
There are other points of interest around the woods too… look out for the most picturesque of picnic benches, hidden toadstools and you could always try a scavenger hunt!
We also played a few games on the way round. That old classic peg game was a huge hit with Jess, and we hid from the bears when we saw all the trees that they’d pushed over! For more ideas of activities whilst you walk, have a look at this blog post.
After we’d done all the exploring Jess could face, we headed back to the visitor centre to enjoy a luxury hot chocolate and a play.
If you want to make a full day of it, explore some of the other great walks in the area.