A Perfect Woodland Walk, accessible for all.

Norfolk not only boasts beautiful coastal scenes but has some fantastic countryside more inland too.  Today was Mothering Sunday so we took our 2 kids and dog for an amazing walk and wanted to share it with you.

On the outskirts of the picturesque market town of Holt (I will cover Holt in a future post),  less than 30 minutes from our holiday cottages is a fabulous park called 'Holt Country Park'.

There is something for everyone here, there are a series of signposted trails through the beautiful woods ranging from 1/3 mile right through to an 18 miler for the more active among us!

We arrived and parked up.  The car park was level and had several disabled parking bays next to the Visitor's Centre.

We were greeted by a friendly fellow in a pop up coffee shop who served delicious coffee!

We had a wander round to get our bearings and soon stumbled across a huge viewing tower where you could look out over the beautiful parkland, where wild ponies roam free.

You can access this parkland through a kissing gate and can explore freely but this would be for the more able bodied of us as the terrain is quite uneven and hilly (yes, Norfolk does really have some hills!! ;) )

Our tummies soon reminded us that is was in fact lunch time so we winded our way back to the picnic area which had both open air & under cover picnic tables including some marvellous wheelchair friendly tables.

We settled down to a veritable feast prepared by my lovely husband and even made friends with the BFG!

There were good toilet facilities there, including disabled toilet which were clean and tidy.

We grabbed one of the maps from the Visitor's Centre (closed as it was Sunday) and headed off in search of the play area which was nestled in among the trees.  The children had a ball running around, playing on the swings & slides and were loath to be pulled away from their new buddies they had made!

We decided to check out the Green Trail which is an 'Easy Access half-mile trail' and were very impressed. The tracks were level and well kept and the scenery was beautiful.

Every now and then hidden gems were found in the form of various sculptures & an archway.

There were regular benches dotted about if you were to need a breather or indeed just to sit and take in the views.

We came across a super 'Nature Area' which had some lovely raised beds, which looked like they were in the process of being filled.  There was a smashing bug hotel which the kids loved getting up close to! There were a couple of benches where you could sit and watch the world go by, it was a remarkably peaceful place and I would have loved to have hung around if it hadn't been for the 4 year old & 6 year old tugging on my hand! Next time.....

The place was very dog friendly with regular dog waste bins along the trails and a fab watering hole for them.

The various other trails we could have taken include a cycle route which is 1 1/3 miles of traffic free cycling - perfect for the children to find their cycling confidence.

The park is very well managed, there was a board of upcoming events for the Easter Holidays to keep the children entertained & active. They cater for organised groups on request.

Their newsletter, available from the Visitor's Centre tells of wildlife you can keep an eye out for on your adventures.  A flock of 12 Parrot Crossbills arrived in the woods this autumn and are still about, they are apparently very rare and many bird watchers have flocked ('scuse the pun! ;) ) to the Park to see them. Other wildlife we were advised to keep a look out for were Red Kite & Bank Voles as well as a variety of flora & fauna.

A brilliant day - I would highly recommend a visit.

Why not discover more of Norfolk’s beauty with a break in a family & pet friendly accessible cottage? See nd-fc.co.uk for further details :)