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Your search for '"country park"' has returned 103 results:

Danbury Country Park

Danbury Country Park

Featuring 45 acres of grade II listed park and gardens with lakes, ancient woodland, wildflower meadow and historic features. Ideal for walking, families and picnics with friends.

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Hadleigh Country Park

Hadleigh Country Park

Hadleigh Park offers something for everyone – idyllic countryside, cycling and walking trails and magnificent views.

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Thorndon Country Park

Thorndon Country Park

Colourful woodlands, birdlife, open parkland, fishing and the Gruffalo Trail make Thorndon Country Park the perfect destination for nature lovers, dog walkers and families alike.

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Weald Country Park

Weald Country Park

Famous for its deer park and Stick Man trail, Weald boasts spectacular views and space, covering over 520 acres of woodland, wildflower meadows and open grassland.

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Great Notley Country Park

Great Notley Country Park

Home to Essex's longest play trail and Sky Ropes, Great Notley Country Park offers the perfect family day out.

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Belhus Woods Country Park

Belhus Woods Country Park

Over 300 acres in South Essex, Belhus Woods Country Park combines ancient woodland, kid's play area, meadows and lakes with a visitor centre and café.

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Cudmore Grove Country Park

Cudmore Grove Country Park

A nature reserve of over 102 acres of unique coastal landscapes and habitat and heritage features overlooking the Colne and Blackwater Estuaries.

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Marsh Farm Country Park

Marsh Farm Country Park

A 300-acre country park adjacent to the River Crouch, offering scenic walks with fantastic views over the country park and the river.

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Flitch Way

Flitch Way

Enjoy 15 miles of flat, traffic free, beautiful Essex countryside following a former railway line from Braintree to Bishops Stortford. Perfect for walking, cycling and horse riding.

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Sky Ropes

Sky Ropes

Your family adventure starts here! Swing, swoop and soar on our specially designed Sky Ropes.

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Wildlife Detectives Day

Wildlife Detectives Day

Nov 22, 2019

Your class will be detectives, uncovering clues to what lives where and why, as they explore their habitats, with concepts like food chains brought to life.

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Essex Explorer Magazine

Essex Explorer Magazine

Jan 1, 2022

Packed full of beautiful photography, seasonal features, recommended reads, recipes, competitions and much more.

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Now: the future community event

Now: the future community event

Aug 13, 2022

Take part in climate change workshops run by award-winning theatre maker Amanda Kelleher and help create an audio play!

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Mental Elf Festive Fun Run

Mental Elf Festive Fun Run

Nov 30, 2024

Mental Elf is a festive fun run for everyone – whether you’re a seasoned runner or prefer a stroll in the park.

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Essex Record Office: Excavating Weald Hall

Essex Record Office: Excavating Weald Hall

Feb 13, 2025

Join Oxford Archaeology at the Essex Record Office to learn about the results of last year’s community excavation at South Weald Country Park.

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Family Forest School: Danbury Country Park

Family Forest School: Danbury Country Park

Mar 11, 2023

Don’t let the children have all the fun, connecting with nature is beneficial for everyone. Come and join us at our Family Forest School sessions.

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Let's Keep Covid in Check

Let's Keep Covid in Check

Aug 18, 2021

Explore Essex safely this summer. If you're visiting Great Notley, Hadleigh or Thorndon on these selected dates, visit a pop-up stand to collect your free self-test kits.

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Family Forest School at Great Notley Country Park

Family Forest School at Great Notley Country Park

Mar 2, 2024

Following the success of Spooky Forest School in 2023, we are pleased to confirm a brand NEW Family Forest School running once a month on Saturdays at Great Notley Country Park.

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North Essex Astronomical Society at Great Notley

North Essex Astronomical Society at Great Notley

Sep 27, 2025

North Essex Astronomical Society is one of the larger astronomical societies in the UK with over 200 members. They are also one of the few providing members with access to a full-sized observatory at a dark-sky location

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Essex Country Parks

Explore and enjoy the eight Essex Country Parks on your doorstep and beyond . . .

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Weald Country Park Discovery Trail

Weald Country Park Discovery Trail

Explore different corners of the park and imagine the landscape as it once was. Discover the work the park rangers are doing to conserve it for future generations.

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Managing deer within Essex Country parks

Managing deer within Essex Country parks

The United Kingdom is home to six species of deer and the Essex Country Parks are no exception as the most common in the county are fallow, muntjac and roe deer. In fact, some of our sites began as medieval deer parks dating back to the 12th century.

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Dogs at the Essex Country Parks

Dogs at the Essex Country Parks

At the Essex Country Parks, not only do we welcome well behaved dogs but we also have a wide variety of landscapes which are perfect for walking your furry friends and helping both of you to get some exercise.

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Top Dog Walks at the Essex Country Parks

Top Dog Walks at the Essex Country Parks

Whilst every Essex Country Park offers the perfect place to walk your fluffy friends, we’ve picked some of our top dog walks to suit you whatever you’re looking for.

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Four Best Bluebell Spots at the Essex Country Parks

Four Best Bluebell Spots at the Essex Country Parks

In the months of April and into May Bluebells bloom and huge swathes of woodland come alive with carpets of beautiful blue flowers. We’ve pulled together the best spots to enjoy these vibrant splashes of colour in the Essex Country Parks, from Brentwood and Belhus to Danbury this spring.

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Best summer picnic spots at the Essex Country Parks

Best summer picnic spots at the Essex Country Parks

Picnics have been a popular tradition since the middle ages and when the sun is shining there’s no better reason to go for a picnic! We’ve put together a list of our favourite picnic spots across the Essex Country Parks – perfect for reconnecting with friends, catching up with family and eating your favourite food alfresco. Enjoy time spent outdoors in nature with the people you love this summer.

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Explorer Pass

Explorer Pass

Save money on car parking and more with the Essex Country Parks Explorer Pass.

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Our parks and places

Our parks and places

Discover some of the best country parks and places for a great family day out in Essex. The mix of open spaces, kids play areas, lakes and woodland in the Essex Country Parks provide the perfect spaces to walk, run and play whatever your age.

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Get active

Get active

Simply being outdoors and getting active improves both mental and physical health. From taking a walk across rolling grasslands to cycling and kids’ play trails we’ve got something for you in many different locations across the county. So come on and get out more.

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Dog Walking

Dog Walking

The Essex Country Parks provide a wide variety of landscapes perfect for walking your furry friends. Take long riverside rambles or let your pets run free through the trees.

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Heritage places

Heritage places

A lot of Essex parks and places are steeped in history. From one of the largest Knight’s Templar sites to connections with Capability Brown, why not find out more about our county’s history with a visit. If you are interested in delving deep into the past, the Essex Record Office is the place to start your journey.

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Kids play and trails

Kids play and trails

Get your kids out and set their imaginations free as they play, climb and soar in beautiful outdoor locations. Specially designed, natural and unique play equipment has been commissioned and developed at many of the parks. Great Notley Country Park boasts the longest play trail in Essex and is also home to Sky Ropes. Find out more and kid about.

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Coastal, rivers and lakes

Coastal, rivers and lakes

There’s sometimes nothing better than being by water, whether it’s the sea, river or lake. Each has its own magic. Explore coastal Cudmore Grove on Mersea Island, or picnic by the lakes at Danbury or Belhus Woods. Take a scenic riverside ramble at Marsh Farm Country Park by the river Crouch. Explore somewhere new and let the peace and beauty wash over you.

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Sky Ropes

Get your heart racing and explore high in the sky in a quest to conquer Sky Ropes at Great Notley Country Park. With high ropes adventure courses to suit the whole family from tiny tots of two years to big kids and adults, Sky Ropes offers great, safe family fun.

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Terms and Conditions

These terms and conditions apply to all bookings made with Essex Country Parks, Essex County Council, County Hall, Market Road. Chelmsford, CM1 1QH for sessions on the Sky Ropes and Sky Ropes Junior high ropes courses at Great Notley Country Park.

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Schools

Schools

High-quality learning outside the classroom in inspirational spaces. We provide high-quality learning outside the classroom experiences in inspirational spaces that can help unlock children’s learning potential and bring out the best in them. Learning in Essex Country Parks is fun, active and covers a wider curriculum scope. Activities are also designed to promotion children’s personal and social development.

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Forest Schools

Forest Schools

Don’t let the children have all the fun, forest school and connecting to nature is for everyone, come and join us at our Family Forest School sessions. Leave the electronics at home and build relationships and skills whilst making memories with your friends and family.

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Hire

Hire

Discover a variety of rooms and sites for hire across Essex. Whether you are a business, organisation or local authority, we have a wide variety of spaces across Essex available to suit your needs.

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Media & press

For any media or press enquiries please contact us directly.

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Mills

Mills

Visit an Essex Mill and discover a piece of the county’s history

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Car parking

Car parking

Essex Country Park car parking income is reinvested into the upkeep and development of the parks and protection of the wildlife within.

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Gruffalo Day

Gruffalo Day

Your class will experience the Deep Dark Wood that has made this story so popular with young children and adults alike.

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Stick Man Day

Stick Man Day

On this activity day, your class will go on a woodland adventure and bring to life the story of the Stick Man.

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Summer Challenge 2020

Summer Challenge 2020

Visit 6 Country Parks over the summer holidays and complete 1 challenge at each park to be entered into a prize draw to win an Explore Essex goody bag! Will you take on the challenge?

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Essex Explorer Magazine

Essex Explorer Magazine

Discover the Essex Explorer magazine, a seasonal magazine with fascinating features, spotlight articles, inspirational lifestyle ideas, competitions and all of the latest news from across our Essex Country Parks and places.

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Five wonderful winter walks

Five wonderful winter walks

We have five wonderful winter park walks for you, from the wild Essex coast to historical landscapes, there's a walk for everyone

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Infinity Forest Summer Garden Goody Bag Competition

To celebrate the opening of the Infinity Forest Art Installation at Danbury Country Park, we're launching a competition to win an Explore Essex Family Summer Garden Goody Bag - worth over £100!

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Summer of Culture Guide for Essex

Summer of Culture Guide for Essex

We are delighted to share the Summer of Culture guide, full of exciting upcoming events for Essex communities to enjoy and fantastic creative activities. Connect with each other and the natural world around you.

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How to make your garden hedgehog friendly

How to make your garden hedgehog friendly

It’s hedgehog awareness week so there’s no better time to make some simple changes to your garden to help Britain’s only native spiny mammal thrive.

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Explore Essex and ACL Essex Park Art Competition

Explore Essex and ACL Essex Park Art Competition

We partnered with our friends at ACL Essex to launch the Park Art competition at the start of spring. We received a superb selection of entries - from photographs to paintings - and it was wonderful to see you take inspiration from our country parks. Browse the gallery of entries from talented artists.

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Wonderful Wildflower Walks in Essex

Wonderful Wildflower Walks in Essex

Take a walk on the wild side this summer and discover the wonderful wildflowers which inhabit the Essex Country Parks. With flora and fauna flourishing there’s no better time to visit. Our rangers suggest walks to enjoy the best of the grassland meadows.

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Explore Essex Infinity Forest competition

To celebrate the opening of the Infinity Forest Art Installation at Danbury Country Park, we launched an art competition to win an Explore Essex Family Summer Garden Goody Bag. We received some fantastic entries, from collages to paintings to tree tracing. Browse the gallery of entries from talented artists of all ages.

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Thank you for subscribing to the Explore Essex newsletter

Thank you for signing up to our newsletter - you'll be the first to hear about our latest news, exciting events, competitions and exclusive offers. You'll also get the Essex Explorer magazine delivered straight to your inbox.

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Name the Goats

Name the Goats

Win an Explore Essex bundle of goodies including tickets to Sky Ropes

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Build a bird feeder

Build a bird feeder

Why not help our feathered friends by building this simple bird feeder to keep them fed during the colder months? Not only does it help our avian associates, it’s also great way to get your children interested in nature.

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Let happiness bloom by planting flowers

Let happiness bloom by planting flowers

The spring months bring warmer weather making it a good time to plant some seeds ready for the year ahead, read about the wonderful benefits of planting and how to prepare.

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Discover amazing autumnal walks

Discover amazing autumnal walks

Autumn is a great time to explore the great outdoors, enjoy beautiful golden scenes, crisp air, fiery foliage, and rustling leaves.

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Autumn Scavenger Hunt

Autumn Scavenger Hunt

Autumn has arrived and the parks are brimming with colour. Can you find 5 or more of these seasonal sights on your next trip to one of our country parks?

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We're celebrating National Tree Week

We're celebrating National Tree Week

At Essex Country Parks we're passionate about the environment, which is why we’re celebrating National Tree Week (Saturday 25 November to Sunday 3 December).

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Danbury: Flood Management Works

Danbury: Flood Management Works

A project which will alleviate seasonal flooding at the award winning Danbury Country Park will also help support and encourage growing populations of amphibians and insects.

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Three Wonderful Wetland Walks

Three Wonderful Wetland Walks

Essex Country Parks contain many stunning and diverse landscapes, flora and fauna which is why we are shining a spotlight on our favourite waterside places for this year’s World Wetlands Day.

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25 Things To Do In 2025

25 Things To Do In 2025

Kickstart your New Year. Whether it's a coastal stroll, a day out sailing, or discovering hidden gems on your doorstep there's something for everyone to explore in Essex. The Explore Essex team have come up with 25 great ways to get you out and about in 2025.

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