If you're in South Essex thinking this will be a bit of a drive, you'll find it's well worth it. For pre school kids this will be a wonderland they don't want to leave especially on a school day when it's quiet. For older kids it's a constant adventure and young teens a nice place to hang out. Thoughtfully laid out play areas are dotted around the site. For adults it's got fantastic views, great to exercise and cycle, dog friendly, I've even seen a horse riding club up trooping around. The slopes and mounds make a walk or run more of a challenge. Perfect for picnics and it also has a cafe. Freeport with an abundance of restaurants is a 7 min drive away. In all its a good spot to spend your time, visit!!!

We love this Park. Perfect for an evening sunset stroll, we especially like the fact there are loads of paths out the way. ideal for a cheeky pet photography session or Engagement photos. Coffeeshop is not the best tho, if you go in the week there is good one on the new industrial estate.

Fantastic park for kids my grandkids 4 and 10 loved it. The discovery trail leads the kids from one lot of play equipment to another lot. So takes a long time for kids to get fed up. Slides, zip wire, climbing frames, assult course, swings and more. Never tried cafe as took picnic. Car parking not cheap but it pays for upkeep of park and equipment so £5.20 for 3hrs of fun and relaxation for 5 people doesn't seem so bad. Toilets in cafe during opening time.

Such a great place! Lovely cafe, fun activities for the family to book and do (rope jungle gym type thing) various different parks at different points of the walk with swings, zip line, slides etc for the kids. Paths all around the park, perfect for long dog walks. So glad we came across this place! Will be coming weekly.

I love going here with my grandchildren. There's plenty of swings/slides etc for the children and some lovely walks. There is also a much appreciated cafe for a drink or snack. It's always clean and tidy and well signposted

Excavations in Great Notley revealed the remains of Iron Age and Roman settlements with a series of enclosures overlaid with a Roman development on the site of the Skyline Business Park. It is thought that there was a series of occupations on the site from the late Iron Age onwards, which included brewing, farming and the production of textiles. Great Notley Country Park however is relatively new, having been created from the remnants of Gt Notley Village when it was developed as part of the new 'self-sustaining' garden village. It has grown up with the community surrounding it, and is quite unique in that its wildflower meadows, lakes and other landmarks were created from scratch and over the years have grown and developed in to what you see today. Whether you're an adventurer at heart or just want to relax and unwind in Essex's beautiful countryside, Great Notley Country Park offers the perfect day out for all the family. Covering 100 acres of open space the park is home to Sky Ropes, the fun, family friendly high ropes adventure course as well as Essex’s longest kid’s play trail. Jump, swing, slide, crawl and climb your way around 1.2km of fun including giant seesaws, swing scales, rope climbers, slides, forts and a large sand play area. Looking for something a bit quieter? The park also offers some lovely areas to explore and enjoy nature including a fishing lake and wildflower meadows. It’s popular for a wide range of activities including birdwatching, walking, cycling, fishing, horse riding, football, picnics and kite-flying. Read our summer Wildflower Walks blog to find out more about what you can spot. Great Notley Country Park is delighted to have been awarded Green Flag status again this year as well as being nominated for the Fields in Trust Award for Best UK Park. Eating & Drinking The café currently offers outdoor seating and takeaways, serving a range of sandwiches, snacks and drinks, with menus changing seasonally. This includes a selection of ice cream flavours, perfect for hot summer days, and coffee and hot chocolate for when you need to warm up.

Perfect size park with different kinds of playgrounds spread across the whole park which makes the experience even more fun for the kids. It's not 5 stars because the cafe was closed during the bank holiday, sky rope was also closed and the football pitches were only available after paying quite expensive fees. Car park fees were not cheap but reasonable, especially if you plan to stay more than 4 hours. Worth the visit.

Really nice area and a fun climbing walk for the kids too Only disappointment was the cost of Parking, and they really need to put some picnic benches on the walk around, think I saw 2 for the whole 2k route. I went with my kids and felt as a disabled adult they may think about that in future, my kids wanted to sit somewhere and have lunch so were disappointed with that. Overall, it's a lovely place and the Bird Sculpture 🐦 is awesome 👌 👏 👍

Really nice park, clean and well kept. Easy parking and easy to pay when you leave. Didn't walk too far but I think there are a few trails you can walk around. Took a picnic The sky ropes are brilliant, decent for the kids Good few hours.. 👍

Great place to take the kids, good facilities,cafe at the entrance. High ropes climbing(requires booking), country paths, play areas, zip line and a lake with fishing jetties.

Really love this place and to take the kids. Haven't been for a while but is really enjoyable. The kids loved the park and playing football. The car park is good and is big enough for the place. Really enjoyable day out. Also thinking about doing sky ropes next time. Our football did end up in the lake but we could get it because it was shallow where it was luckily.

Lovely area of nature, with lots of playground bits spread out throughout the park. Our littlun loved riding her bike around discovering more and more exciting things to play on. Great for adults & kids alike with a nice cafe near the car park side

Discovery Park? Thought as this was a country park with a name like this that there may have been some broad information about wildlife or bugs or something about the country but found a cafe, a children's water feature for messing about and getting wet, a cycle path come footpath around the countryside and large Lake (fishing available but did not see any info about that) but no swimming! Lots of ducks and swans that are very hungry! Please don't feed them bread as it's not healthy for them. Theres a seperate business called Sky Ropes where you can do some climbing about some high structure. Probably great for those seaking an adrenaline fix! Poor information on the Web site so please see the photos I took of the information that's on site. The season starts tomorrow 21st July 2018. Minimum child height is 1 metre and older children from 1.2 metre. Sky Ropes, I'm told will need pre booking and paid separately from the park. The park is free to use but you will all need to pay for the car park. £1 for entry to half hour and up to £6.50 for the day. Remember your car registration number as you'll need to pay for your car before exiting. We didn't use the ropes place as it wasn't open but came to get more info. No leaflets available! No bar codes to scan for the Web site and the old climbing wall (near the toilet entrance) looked a little the worse for wear and needs the foot/hand pegs putting back on before it can be used again. The kids entertainment using the water gizmos and the other items kept them busy for a couple of hours (bring change of clothes etc!). Picnic tables were available but probably nowhere near enough when they get busy. Very little sunshade and no umbrellas to keep off the sun! Not that many people around today so it was a great place to fly the kites. Just be sensible not to do this above people already sitting on the grass area! A quiet stroll afterwards to feed the ducks and spot the wildlife and flowers etc took up 6 hours+ so the cafe was handy for a coffee, ice cream and cake (cake a little dry but not enough to complain about). The are NO litter bins anywhere in the park so bring spare bags to take your rubbish away instead of leaving on the ground as some were doing!!! Great fun. Shame the parking is so much cost otherwise we would visit quite often but worth a visit.

Lovely space for a walk or bike ride. Nice selection of outdoor kids playground toys, suitable for young to older kids. Great views from top of the manmade hill. Some great new stuff such as the zip wire and highropes course, but lots of original bits which are now nearing the end of their life and slowly getting renewed. Popular water play sections are unrepairable, so just fenced off for years. Carpark charges are reasonable. Big cafe on site. Nice place to visit.

A bit muddy in places this time if year, and center it's self is just a café no maps or wildlife info ( why is it called a "discovery center"? what are you likely to discover !!), also car parking price is a bit steep (we parked elsewhere) having said that it is a nice walk really good for kids you have to pay for the large supervised climbing play area, but a lot of the other play apparatus is free.

Excellent facilities, lots of play equipment, leafy gravel paths and fishing lake. Cafe and toilets on site.

Lovely outdoor space for a walk and for the kids to have a good day out. Nice play areas set up along a nice trail walk. Out door climbing wooden structure available at a cost. Will most certainly go again.

Lovely autumn 🍂 walk at the discovery Park

Small child loved the play trail and the Sky Ropes! Cafe was closed, but worth looking at Cafe Plaza just south of the park if you're planning on eating- spend £9.50 in the cafe and you get free parking for the entire day (and the country park parking charges are HIGH!)

Had a great time with our nieces who were down from Leeds. They enjoyed using the play area, & were down while the inflatables were on, so they enjoyed the added bonus of that. Our dog also enjoyed the walk. Sadly only one thing let down the park. The lack of waste bins, we didn't find any. (Only the ice cream van had a black bag). The dog waste bins were overflowing with human rubbish. There were empty plastic bottles & sandwich wrappers scattered around. We obviously repacked our rubbish into our picnic bag & took it home. Unfortunately not everyone did! Happy to pay the parking charges for the upkeep of the park, but to have no bins isn't good.

I enjoy walking my dog here, lovely place to walk and lead to lots of other walks too. The play areas unfortunately over the years have broken and never been replaced... bring back the water play! And something is always out of use... unfortunately the council doesn't seem to keep up with the up keep of the play areas. A lovely place to come for a walk/bike ride and picnic.

Wonderful park for all ages. Loads of play equipment for children of all ages. Beautiful walks around the lakes and park. Cycle paths and horse trecking trails. Activity centre and cafe. A great day out, and cheap, you only need to pay for parking. Our dog had the time of her life.

It is a beautiful park, if your going for longer than half an hour here's a local tip, park elsewhere and walk over. Car park is over priced and avoided by most. Easily one of the more expensive car parks in Essex and doesn't provide value for money.

Stopped here to walk dog and have a coffee when passing through the area, attracted by 5 star reviews. Unfortunately I do not share praise. A nice open area with lake & children's play facilities, but: the cafe is seemingly permanently shut (last opening times in window a month out of date), a complete absence of dog bins until you get to the lake, & £3.70 to park for 65 minutes!

What a fantastic place, you just feel connected to nature...the children loved the playground

Great park with lots of things to do. Parking is too expensive though.

Great place to run the legs of the grandkids and wear them out. Lots ot lovely play areas for them and the thoroughly enjoyed the sandpit area. Cafe was quite good too and not extortionate. Nice walks too if you don't have any children to look after.

Lovely place to take the kids for a change of scenery,unless you live in great notley in which case public gardens in Braintree ain't a bad shout. Some of the play bits for the kids were shut however my little one is only 2 so easily convinced a dinosaur broke them. Love the fact there is a sand pit for them to play in! Would have loved to have known this fact prior so I could better prepare so as not to have half a beach in the car when we left. Parking ain't tooooo terrible, we were there for around 3 hours and it cost £5 I believe so a little steep but comme si comme sa. All in all would definitely go again.

This is a great place to take the family. Heaps and heaps of space to play and enjoy with the family and friends. I highly recommend the skyropes course, the staff running the facilities are lovely, super helpful and friendly. Only downer is the cost of parking, but the parking meters are cashless so it makes it easy and convenient. The cafe seems to close a bit early too. But overall a lovely park

There is loads of separate parks for the children , toilets etc. There is also the high ropes you can pay to do , which is really nice. I didn't book it either wasn't overly busy, loads of open space and a lake too, Car park was £3.50 for two hours? And some of the parks was closed off? But Over all a good experience.

Lovely park, unfortunately sky ropes was closed due to the covid restrictions. Waiting for it to reopen so that we can go back. The play trail was amazing, my kids had a blast. My kid would not leave the sand pit. The weather was in our favour, no rain, cool and windy. It was clean and well maintained.