Bowland Country Park
Wild boar, deer and llamas in a Forest of Bowland valley, with animal feeding, an adventure play area, go-karts and river walks. Small, unslick and all the better for it.
Gisburn Forest
- Cost
- Free entry, parking £2.50 first hour, £8.50 all day
- Ages
- 3 to 12
- Where
- Clitheroe & Ribble Valley, Lancashire
- Weather
- Mostly outdoors
- Booking
- Just turn up
Gisburn Forest is Forestry England's patch of the Forest of Bowland, up the B6478 north of Clitheroe beside Stocks Reservoir. It is a proper forest, big and quiet, best known for its mountain bike trails. For families the draw is the Room on the Broom trail, aimed at 3 to 9 year olds: help Witch find her hat, bow and wand, collect spell ingredients, and finish with a photo on a giant broom. There is also a play area.
Entry is free and parking is the cost. The main car park at Gisburn Forest Hub charges £2.50 for the first hour and tops out at £8.50 for the day, paid by card on exit. The trail pack is £4 from the Hungry Pine cafe and comes with a bag to colour, a lanyard, stickers and a wand to make. Through October there are cauldrons hidden along the trail and a Halloween sheet for £1.50, free with a pack.
Most waymarked walks start at Stocks car park, with a link trail to the Hub, and the Birch Hills path is an easy woodland walk with two wildlife hides. Dogs are welcome. It is a Dark Sky Discovery Site too, if you fancy an autumn evening of stars. The nearest bus stop is at Tosside, three miles away, so this is a car trip. The forest itself is open dawn to dusk every day.
What it costs: Free entry. Gisburn main car park: up to 20 minutes free, first hour £2.50, then 45p per 15 minutes, all day £8.50 (pay on exit by card). Cocklet Hill car park: £1.50 up to an hour, £3 all day, coins only. Room on the Broom trail pack £4 from the Hungry Pine cafe. Forestry England members park free.
Know before you go
- The Room on the Broom pack (£4) is sold at the Hungry Pine, which opens Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays, 10.30am to 2.30pm. Come on another day and there is no pack. The trail is not pram friendly.
- Gruffalo fun day on Friday 30 October: free, with Gruffalo meet-and-greets at 11am, 12pm, 1.30pm, 2.30pm and 3.30pm. Get there early.
- If you only want an hour or so, Cocklet Hill car park is £1.50 an hour or £3 all day, coins only.
Looking for more parks & outdoors near Clitheroe & Ribble Valley?
Sending it to the group chat?
What visitors say
★★★★★ 4.7 across 779 Google reviews.
Read all 779 reviews on Google - filter by star rating thereAlso in Clitheroe & Ribble Valley
Clitheroe Castle
One of England's smallest Norman keeps on a rock above the town, with a labyrinth, sculpture trail and a museum that tells the Ribble Valley's story briskly. The grounds and the views cost nothing.
Brungerley Park & Sculpture Trail
Woodland, riverbank and an old quarry scattered with more than 20 sculptures, a mile from Clitheroe town centre. Turns an ordinary walk into a treasure hunt, and it costs nothing.
Edisford Bridge
The Ribble runs shallow over shingle on the town side of the bridge, which is why half of Clitheroe turns up on a warm Sunday. Picnic space, a miniature railway at weekends, free to use.
Leaping Lizards Play Centre
Clitheroe's soft play: a two-storey frame, a sports pitch and a 0 to 3 zone, in two hour booked sessions for £7 a child. Friday after school is £2.50.
Mrs Dowsons Farm Park
A working dairy farm on the Blackburn edge of the Ribble Valley that makes ice cream from its own herd and opens to visitors at weekends and in the holidays. Talks, animal feeds, a milking parlour and an indoor natural play barn.
What’s on near you, every Friday
One email a week: what is on this weekend within a sensible drive, and the places worth booking before they go.