Days Out...

Crocky Trail, Chester

Yesterday I took Aum and his friend Max to the Crocky Trail adventure park in Chester. We set off at half eleven and it took us about 45 mins to get there. After we had paid we headed over to the main play area, which had 'death slides', a giant see-saw, a centrifuge, a spinning dome that you had to try and get to the top of, a really difficult climbing wall, a massive hamster wheel (which was the most horrible experience ever, I couldn't get out!!), skipping game, wave machine that you had to get from one side of to the other, and a Gladiator game with big pieces of canvas that moved with as motor and tried to knock you off a balance beam. 

The pair of them spent ages in that section messing around, but after a while I was getting bored and it was freezing, so I suggested we actually started the main trail. It began with a wooden bridge with a metal balance bar, which got off to a good start as Max refused to cross it as he was scared! Luckily there was a 'pushchair route' so he spent the majority of the trail on that!

It took us about an hour and a half to complete the circular track, and along the way there were various obstacles, more bridges (some a bit too treacherous for us!) tunnels that were very muddy, roundabouts, mazes, a jailhouse with a trick door so that you got locked in, a rope swing across the stream which made me very nervous about Aum falling in, and beams that you had to shuffle across on your bum using your hands!

It was loads of fun, and good exercise too! It's perfect for all ages, as the obstacles are varying in difficulty, and what kids don't love playing in muddy conditions running around and enjoying themselves? Max had a bit of a trip in some brambles, which he insisted on reminding us of at frequent intervals, but apart from that there were no injuries, which I thought was pretty good going!

After we had finished we stopped at the (cheap and cheerful) cafe/ food shack and had a sausage roll, crisps and flapjacks, and I got a hot drink to warm my freezing fingers! All of it came to £5.50, which considering over summer I spent £30 on pizzas at Chester Zoo I thought was an absolute bargain!

Crocky Trail was a really good day out for all the family and I would highly recommend it. It is pretty crude and basic though, so if you're not prepared to rough it and get dirty, then I'd suggest you give this one a miss!