The Crocky Trail Chester | A Family Review

This week we had out first family visit to the Crocky Trail Chester with the boys. My husband and I went 10 years ago when we first moved to Chester but despite it being on our door step we hadn’t actually been back with the boys and we have no idea why. This time I decided to write a Crocky Trail Review along with some top tips that will hopefully help you get the most out of your visit.

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What is the Crocky Trail?

The Crocky Trail is an outdoor adventure play area situated on the outskirts of Chester. It is divided into three main sections, four if you count the new wonderland area for under 5’s. It is family friendly  has places to eat, toilets and free parking.

The main area 

The main area is the bit where you first enter Crocky Trail. It is here where you will find the main attractions including  lots of slides. Crocky trail is definitely the place to go if you, or your children, love slides as these are some the biggest and fastest I have ever seen.

They have drop slides, small slides, high slides, very, very, very high slides and slides that throw you off into foam pits. This was the tiddlers highlight of the day. He could not get enough of all these slides. I on the other hand was not as impressed. It was here that I thought I was going to have heart failure as our 5 year old climbed to the top of the highest slide and just dropped without any fear at all whilst I stood at the bottom wanting to be sick. The slides are perfectly safe I hasten to add but my goodness do they turn your stomach.

crocky trail

In the main area of Crocky Trail you will also find an array of football related activities and a couple of balance games too. The big’un loved the football goal area the best and stayed in there for ages challenging other children as well as members of staff. The idea is to stand in front of a goal which also has another goal area either side and as people try and shoot you have to dive from the goal into the padded nets and save the ball. It looked a lot more fun than it sounds and is perfect for any football mad kid.

 

The rides

From the main area you can follow the path round to the left and walk into a second area that is similar to the first but instead of slides there are more ride type attractions. Things that make you spin, ninja warrior type activities, a haunted house and a very popular ride called the titanic.

 

Both of our boys favoured the titanic in this area, which is a ride that gets higher and higher, steeper and steeper and then starts to shake. The aim is to stay seated as long as possible although for the spectators it’s much more fun when people start to drop.

 

The haunted house also gets good reviews from older children. It is pitch black and contains moving objects and although both boys were brave enough to try it neither of them would go on again and I think that it was maybe a little to scary for them, especially the 5 year old.

 

The actual Crocky Trail

After we had completed both these areas several times we took to the third area which is the actual Crocky Trail itself. This is a circular path that has a number of obstacles dotted about. Some are easier than others, such as thin bridges and stepping stones. Some are more fun and require less concentration such as the swings and the water blaster.  And then there are those that are more difficult such as the chain crossing. All of the obstacles are great fun but don’t worry as the whole of the Crocky Trail route can be accessed by everyone and if you get to an obstacle you can’t complete, or simply don’t want to try, that is fine you can just walk round it. You wont get stuck.

crocky trail

 

Top Tips for the Crocky trail near Chester 

 

Only take placid dogs that are use to noise

You can take dogs as long as they remain on a lead at all times. I think this is great however, I would point out that the park is noisy with lots of people and the mechanics of the rides and we saw one dog getting very distressed, shaking and barking at everyone and everything. So please consider this before you take your dog with you. We chose to leave Buddy at home and I am grateful that we did.

 

Take a picnic

The Crocky Trail encourages you to take your own food and they have a number of picnic areas dotted about that you can use, including one under cover should the weather turn. You can leave the park easily to retrieve lunch from the car and go back in the park to eat it too which saves you dragging it round with you all day. If you don’t want to take a picnic that is also fine as they do have two cafes and an ice cream stall.

 

Upgrade the small kids tickets

If you have a young child they can get in cheaper and be given a red wristband, however if you have an adventurous little one I would recommend asking for the upgrade and paying the extra for a yellow band as there is a lot that only yellow bands can use.

 

Allow at least 3 hours.

You will need at least three hours to fully enjoy the park although to be honest you could easily stay all day.

 

The only thing left to say is have an awesome time!

 

 

(We were gifted the tickets in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.)