The Complete Guide to Finding Gruffalo Trails in the UK
There was a time when I could recite the Gruffalo from start to finish because we read it EVERY SINGLE NIGHT. I didn’t mind though because I loved the Gruffalo story as much as the kids so when I searched for family-friendly walks one day and discovered that there was a Gruffalo Trail near me, we had to check it out.
Getting out and about in the countryside and going on nature walks with kids is a fun, healthy and educational thing to do. And the best part – it’s free (other than paying for parking and a Gruffalo Activity pack if required). If the kids need some convincing to get out on a walk, we can highly recommend trying a Gruffalo Trail.
GREAT NEWS! The Gruffalo Spotter Trail is BACK! See end of post for details on where to find them.
We’ve given you all the information you need to know regarding the original Forestry England Gruffalo Trails and we’ve included a few lesser known Gruffalo Trails that you might not have heard of.
**Note that there will currently be more limited parking facilities at some of the sites and while cafés are open, most of them are only offering takeaway food**
What are Gruffalo Trails?
If you’re familiar with the Gruffalo books by Julia Donaldson, you’ll know that the Gruffalo story is set in a deep, dark wood and what better place for a Gruffalo trail to be set than in a real forest?
The Forestry Commission England introduced the Gruffalo trail concept to 15 forests and woods across the UK and they’ve been a huge hit. So much so that many similar Gruffalo experiences have sprung up across the country.
There are Gruffalo characters to spot along a trail through a woodland setting. One thing you should note is that not all of the trails have wooden sculptures of all of the Gruffalo characters. We didn’t know this when we first visited a Gruffalo trail and were slightly disappointed. In place of wooden sculptures there are large pictures of the Gruffalo characters.
All of them end with a large, carved wooden Gruffalo sculpture in a slightly different pose. We have indicated which ones have the wooden sculptures so that you’re not disappointed because this is not highlighted on the Forestry England website.
Some locations just have a Gruffalo sculpture trail and others have a Gruffalo orienteering trail. Some of them have both. Here are the details on the Forestry England Gruffalo Sculptures and Gruffalo Orienteering trails.
Map reading on the Wendover Woods Gruffalo Trail
Gruffalo Scultpure Trails
Here are the 15 places you can find Gruffalo sculptures. Note that Thetford Forest is not mentioned on the Forestry England website, but you can still find Gruffalo sculptures there.
Whilst the trails are an easy distance for kids, not all of them are pram-friendly.
Alice Holt Gruffalo Trail
Gruffalo Trail Alice Holt – has large wooden sculptures of the Gruffalo characters and is about 2.7km long.
Location: Alice Holt Forest, Bucks Horn Oak, Farnham, GU10 4LS (HAMPSHIRE)
Opening times: From 8am daily
Parking: 1 hour – £3.00, 2 hours – £5.00, 3 hours – £7.00, 4 hours – £9.00, All day – £12.00
Facilities: Play areas, Go Ape, Timberline Play Trail, Café & Toilets
Cannock Chase Gruffalo Trail
Gruffalo Trail Cannock Chase – only has the large wooden Gruffalo sculpture and pictures of the characters and is about 1.5km long.
Location: Cannock Chase Forest, Birches Valley, Rugeley, WS15 2UQ (STAFFORDSHIRE)
Opening times: From 7.30am daily except Christmas Day
Parking: Up to 1 hour – £2.00, Up to 2 hours – £4.00, All Day – £6.00
Facilities: Play areas, Go Ape, Bike Shop & Bike Hire, Café & Toilets
Gruffalo Trail Delamere Forest
Gruffalo Trail Delamere Forest – only has the large wooden Gruffalo sculpture and pictures of the characters and is about 3km long.
Location: Delamere Forest, Linmere, Delamere, Northwich, SW8 2HZ (CHESHIRE)
Opening times: From 8am daily
Parking: Up to 1 hour – £2.00, Up to 3 hours – £4.00, All Day – £6.00
Facilities: Go Ape, Bike Shop & Bike Hire, Segway, Café & Toilets
Dalby Forest Gruffalo Trail
Gruffalo Trail Dalby Forest – only has the large wooden Gruffalo sculpture and pictures of the characters and is about 3km long.
Location: Dalby forest, Dalby Visitor Centre, Low Dalby, Thornton-Le-Dale (YORKSHIRE)
Opening times: From 8am daily except Christmas Day and Boxing Day
Parking: All day – £9.00 (Peak), All day – £5.00 (Off Peak)
Facilities: Play areas, Go Ape, Bike Shop & Bike Hire, Café & Toilets
Fineshade Wood Gruffalo Trail
Gruffalo Trail Fineshade Wood – only has the large wooden Gruffalo sculpture and pictures of the characters and is about 1.5km long.
Location: Fineshade Wood, Top Lodge, Fineshade, Near Corby, NN17 3BB (NORTHAMPTONSHIRE)
Opening times: From 9am daily except Christmas Day
Parking: Up to 1 hour – £2.00, 2 hours – £3.50, 3 hours – £4.50, All day – £5.50
Facilities: Play areas, Bike Shop & Bike Hire, Café & Toilets
Whinlatter Gruffalo Trail
Gruffalo Trail Whinlatter Forest – only has the large wooden Gruffalo sculpture and pictures of the characters and is about 1.5km long.
Location: Whinlatter Forest, Whinlatter Pass, Keswick, CA12 5TW (CUMBRIA)
Opening times: Usually from 8.30am but check website
Parking: Up to 20 minutes (free), Up to 1 hour – £2.20, Each additional 20 minutes 0 £0.45, All day – £8.00
Facilities: Play areas, Go Ape, Wild Play Trail, Café & Toilets (limited)
Bedgebury National Pinetum and Forest Gruffalo Trail
Gruffalo Trail Bedgebury – Bedgebury has 6 large wooden sculptures along a 3.5km trail.
Location: Bedgebury National Pinetum and Forest, Lady Oak Lane, Goudhurst, TN17 2SJ (KENT)
Opening times: Every day from 8am (except Christmas Day)
Parking: £13.00 all day (peak) and £10.00 all day (off peak)
Facilities: Play areas, Go Ape, Bike Shope & Bike Hire, Café & Toilets
Wendover Woods Gruffalo Trail
Gruffalo Trail Wendover Woods – only has the large wooden Gruffalo sculpture and pictures of the characters and is about 2km long.
Location: Wendover Woods, Wendover, Aylesbury, HP22 5NQ (BUCKINGHAMSHIRE)
Opening times: Every day from 8am (except Christmas Day)
Parking: There is a large car park but spaces have been restricted. £2.50 up to 2 hours, £4.80 up to 4 hours and £9 over 4 hours.
Facilities: Play area, Go Ape, a 1-mile all-ability play trail loop, Café & Toilets
While you’re in the area, why not check out the Tring Natural History Museum which is only 15 minutes away?
Wyre Forest Gruffalo Trail
Gruffalo Trail Wyre Forest – only has the large wooden Gruffalo sculpture and pictures of the characters and is about 2km long.
Location: Wyre Forest, Callow Hill, Bewdley, DY14 9XQ (WORCESTERSHIRE)
Opening times: From 8am daily (Except Christmas Day)
Parking:
Peak Up to 2 hours – £3.00, Up to 4 hours – £4.00, All Day – £5.00
Peak Up to 2 hours – £2.00, Up to 4 hours – £3.00, All Day – £4.00
Facilities: Play areas, Go Ape, Bike Hire, Café & Toilets
Sherwood Pines Gruffalo Trail
Gruffalo Trail Sherwood Pines – has all of the carved wooden Gruffalo characters and is about 3km long.
Location: Sherwood Pines, Kings Clipstone, Nottingham, NG21 9JL (NOTTINGHAMSHIRE)
Opening times: From 8am daily (except Christmas Day)
Parking: Up to 1 hour – £2.00, Up to 2 hours – £4.00, All Day – £6.00
Facilities: Play areas, Go Ape, Bike Shope & Bike Hire, Café & Toilets
Hamsterley Forest Gruffalo Trail
Gruffalo Trail Hamsterley Forest – only has the large wooden Gruffalo sculpture and pictures of the characters and is about 2km long.
Location: Hamsterley Forest, Bedburn, Hamsterley, DL13 3NL (COUNTY DURHAM)
Opening times: From 9am daily
Parking: Off Peak: Up to 1 hour – £2.00, All day – £6.00. Peak: – £10.00 All day
Facilities: Play areas, Café and Toilets
Westonbirt Arboretum Gruffalo Trail
Gruffalo Trail Westonbirt Arboretrum – only has the large wooden Gruffalo sculpture and pictures of the characters and is about 2km long.
Location: Westonbirt, The Arboretum, Tetbury, GL8 8QS (GLOUCESTERSHIRE)
Opening times: From 9am daily (YOU MUST BOOK A TIME SLOT IN ADVANCE)
Parking: There are no parking charges but there are entry fees
Facilities: Play areas, Treetop Walkway, Café and Toilets
Kielder Castle Gruffalo Trail
Gruffalo Trail Kielder Castle – There are several large wooden carved sculptures and the trail is about 2km long
Location: Kielder Castle, Kielder, NE48 1ER (NORTHUMBERLAND)
Opening times: From 9am daily
Parking: Up to 1 hour – £1.50, All day – £5.00
Facilities: Play areas, Café and Toilets
Moors Valley Gruffalo Trail
Gruffalo Trail Moors Valley – There is a wooden carved Gruffalo and Gruffalo’s Child and the trail is about 2km long
Location: Horton Road, Ashley Heath, Nr Ringwood, BH24 2ET (DORSET)
Opening times: From 8am daily (except Christmas Day)
Parking: Up to 1 hour – £4.00, 2 hours – £8.00, 4 hours – £11.00, All day – £15.00
Facilities: Play areas, Go Ape, Segway, Steam Train, Café & Toilets
Gruffalo Orienteering
In addition to the Gruffalo sculpture trails, there are 12 locations across the UK offering Gruffalo orienteering. To be able to do this Gruffalo activity, you will need to buy a map for £1.50 from the visitor centre. The kids will use this map to locate Gruffalo markers along the trail and there will be questions to answer along the way too.
We love this activity because it helps kids to get a start in map reading. It suggests that the trail is suitable for children up to 8 years old, and I would agree with that, give or take a year. Our eldest is nearly 8 and still loves these trails.
Haldon Forest Park
Haldon Forest Park Gruffalo Orienteering – currently closed
Location: Bullers Hill, Kennford, Exeter, EX6 7XR (DEVON)
Opening times: From 7am daily (except Christmas Day)
Parking: Up to 2 hours – £4.00, Up to 4 hours – £5.00, All day – £7.00
Facilities: Play areas, Go Ape, Bike Shop & Bike Hire, Segway, Café & Toilets
Mallards Pike Lake
Mallards Pike Lake Gruffalo Orienteering
Location: Mallards Pike Lake, Parkend, GL15 4HD (GLOUCESTERSHIRE)
Opening times: From 8am daily (except Christmas Day)
Parking: Up to 2 hours – £5.00, Up to 4 hours – £5.00, All day – £7.00
Facilities: Play areas, Go Ape, Segway, Café & Toilets
Salcey Forest
Salcey Forest Gruffalo Orienteering
Location: Salcey Forest, Quinton Road, NN7 2HX (NORTHAMPTONSHIRE)
Opening times: From 8am daily (except Christmas Day)
Parking: Up to 1 hour – £2.00, Up to 2 hours – £4.00, All day – £6.00
Facilities: Play areas, Café & Toilets
See the details above in the Gruffalo Sculptures section for the following locations:
Fineshade Wood
Cannock Chase
Delamere Forest – currently closed
Dalby Forest
Whinlatter Forest
Hamsterley Forest
Wyre Forest – currently closed
Alice Holt – currently closed
Bedgebury
Wendover Woods
Sherwood Pines
Gruffalo Spotters Trails
The Gruffalo Spotters Trail is back! You can download an App (see links below) and watch the Gruffalo characters come to life on the trail.
You can find the Gruffalo Spotters Trail at:
Kielder Castle (Northumberland)
Beechenhurst (Gloucestershire)
Hicks Lodge (Leicestershire)
Salcey Forest (Northamptonshire)
Wendover Woods (Buckinghamshire)
Our top tip for the Gruffalo Spotters Trail is to download the Gruffalo trail app before you go. The phone signal in some of the forests is quite poor and if you haven’t downloaded the app already, you might struggle to do so which will ruin the experience.
Download the Gruffalo Spotters Trail in Google Play
Download the Gruffalo Spotters Trail in the App Store
You can also download Gruffalo Spotters Activity Sheets which will keep the kids busy either at home or in the woods.
Lesser known Gruffalo Trails
Horseden Hill
Perivale, Middlesex, UB6 7HY (GREATER LONDON) – large wooden sculpture of the Gruffalo and 4 smaller sculptures of the Fox, Owl, Mouse and Snake.
Kew Gardens
Kew Gardens Richmond and Kew Gardens Wakehurst
Temporary trails for October half term from 17th October to 1st November 2020. (GREATER LONDON)
Thorndon Country Park
The Avenue, Warley, Brentwood, CM13 3RZ (ESSEX). Visit several hand crafted wooden sculptures of the Gruffalo characters.
Thetford Forest High Lodge
Thetford Forest Gruffalo Trail – High Lodge, Thetford Forest, Brandon, IP27 0AF (SUFFOLK). While not one of the official trails, you can still see Gruffalo characters from the Gruffalo spotters trail. We have lots of other suggestions for things to do in Suffolk with kids or generally a great guide to Suffolk.
Colin Glen
Colin Glen Gruffalo & Stickman Guided Walk
163 Stewartstown Road, Dunmurry, Belfast, BT17 0HW (COUNTY ANTRIM). Book your own story teller to take you on a guided walk through the woods, tell the Gruffalo story and spotting the wooden carved characters as you go. £10 per person.
Forest of Dean
Gruffalo Trail Forest of Dean – Dean Heritage Centre, Camp Mill, Soudley, Forest of Dean, GL14 2UB (GLOUCESETRSHIRE). Tickets £3 each.
The Jungle
The Gruffalo Explorer’s Trail – 60 Desertmartin Road, Moneymore, Magherafelt, BT45 7RB (COUNTY LONDONDERRY). Self guided tour of Gruffalo story boards with an explorers handbook. Adults £1, Children £5. Children under 3 – free.
Ardkinglas Woodland Garden
Ardkinglas Gruffalo Trail & Fairy Trail – Ardkinglas Estate Office, The Square, Cairndow, PA26 8BN (ARGYLL & BUTE). Follow the short trail around the gardens and locate the storyboards and steel figures of the Gruffalo and the Mouse. Adults £5, Children (4-16) £2. Children under 3 – free.
Kilmardinny Loch
Kilmardinny Loch Gruffalo walk – Bearsden, G61 3NF (EAST DUMBARTONSHIRE). Enjoy a short walk around Loch Kilmardinny where you’ll spot a few Gruffalo character carvings.
Mountain View Ranch, Caerphilly
Mountain View Ranch Gruffalo Walk – Heol Penybryn, Blaengwynlais, Cardiff, CF83 1NG (GLAMORGAN). Wales’ only official Gruffalo Trail. Take a guided walk with a Gruffalo storyteller and meet the characters along the way.
Other places to find the Gruffalo
Chessington Gruffalo River Ride Adventure
We’ll be exploring more of the UK this year on our UK staycations and will be visiting some more Gruffalo Trails. How about you?
Gruffalo Trail Map
Just wanted to update you that sherwood pines have added more sculptures so you can now find all of the characters carved into tree stumps including the squirrel.
Oh that’s great news – thanks for letting us know. We’ll update the post.
Don’t suppose you have these in a map, not sure where all are and trying yo find out if any near Skegness area?
Hi Laura – there is a map at the end of the post with the locations in.