Our last visit here was pre-child Gorge Scrambling with friends, so following a fairy trail with our daughter wearing wings and a tutu was somewhat of a change of pace, but no less enjoyable. In fact, seeing Jess getting involved in all the activities was absolutely brilliant (just as well, since she’s been excited all week about seeing the fairies!) It’s a great trail, and if you’re looking for something to do in Nidderdale, an activity that I’d thoroughly recommend.

Website: http://studfoldtrails.co.uk/adventure_trail/fairy_trail/

Trail: £6.50 for adults and £5.50 for children. There were different difficulty levels of the trail activity booklet depending on ages, but the activities around the trail itself could be for various ages.

Time: We took just under 2.5 hours to go round (including snack stop). If it had been a little warmer and drier we could have spent longer. With older children it might also have taken a bit longer as they would have spent longer at some of the activities (although would be walking faster so who knows?!)

Facilities: Everything you need; toilets, cafe (who can also provide picnics), and free parking. You can camp here and do lots of other activities too!

Accessibility: Technically there were no stiles and steps could be avoided, so a robust buggy could have probably done it, but to be honest I wouldn’t recommend taking one.

As soon as we told Jess we were going to find the fairies today she’s been super excited to don her fairy wings (they’re encouraged!) and fairy skirt and start her fairy walk! At the start we ‘briefed’ her with the basics; she had to spot stone bunnies and find the next marker on the trail. She was terrible at finding the rabbits, but better at finding the pictured markers. As we went round there were loads of activities, most of which would have suited slightly older children better but she liked looking in them and enjoyed the ones she did do.

Some of the parts of the trail had special interest; firstly the ‘Go kart’ track (pedal tractors of different sizes). We loved seeing a biking fairy, and Jess loved that there was a pink helmet!

The den building area was also fab.

For an extra 50p you could also purchase a badge and wish set at the start. There was a fairy house here where you could write your wish on seed paper and plant it in the fairy garden. We did a wishing ‘spell’ but Jess wanted to keep the seeds to take home.

Of course we were here to see the fairies!! 🧚‍♀️🧚‍♀️ Unfortunately they were all asleep as we walked round, but we saw lots of fairy homes and tried to wake them up. They’re clearly heavy sleepers – I think most of Nidderdale heard Jess hollering!!

There was also a treasure box in the Magical Woods where you can take an unwanted toy from home and swap it for something that you might want in there- a lovely idea!

Towards the end of trail is the play area and barn. There are fantastic views from here, as well as facilities to stop and lunch. There are eco toilets and drinks facilities with an honesty box. If you don’t want to carry your picnic round (or want to order one), you can have yours brought up here and delivered to the barn! In the barn itself are colouring pencils where you can colour in the paper circle from the 50p set (at the end you watch this get turned into the badge). The play area includes sandpit, diggers and tractors and a junior obstacle course.

It’s a pretty short walk overall- Jess had no problems walking all the way round. Mainly because you could usually see the next activity ahead (so incentives to keep going). It’s quite a drive up there from where we are (Leeds) so if you can I’d try to tie it in with something else up that way- maybe a trip to Brimham Rocks or a short walk from Pately Bridge on the way home. Or next time I think we’ll stay at the campsite and do some of the other activities, make a weekend of it. Regardless of how you plan it- if you’ve got a young child with an interest in fairies it’s definitely worth a trip!

Xx