The Gruffalo Trail in Essex

The Gruffalo is one of the all time favourite classics that not only is a favourite of ours but the new generation too and perhaps will be for many more generations to come. 

It’s always amazing to see your favourite stories come to life. Recently, we took a stroll in the deep dark woods in search for the Gruffalo ourselves!

The Gruffalo Trail at Thorndon Country Park Brentwood is a great family day out, a perfect way to get close to nature and at the same time a wonderful learning and entertaining experience for the little ones. 

I hadn’t told Aazeen where we were going because not only I wanted to keep it a surprise until the very last minute but at the same time was worried if the unpredictable weather was going to end up changing our plans. Luckily for us, the rain kept away and we were able to have a good time.

Upon arriving, we got our Gruffalo trail maps from the visitor centre and headed towards the woods. The trail is estimated to take around 45 minutes but took us a little over an hour as we went at our own pace not only finding the statues but enjoying everything else the woods had to offer.

The characters appear in the order same as the story. We had taken our book with us and read the story along which helped the experience to become more real.

We handed over one of the maps to Aazeen and let her take the lead, it was lovely to see her navigating through it and figuring out where to go, did we get lost? When following the 4 year old, we didn’t, just don’t give me the map if you want stay on path!

A mouse took a stroll in the deep dark woods…

A fox saw the mouse and the mouse looked good…

An owl saw the mouse and the mouse looked…

A snake saw the mouse….

Then we came across the Gruffalo’s child which was Aazeen’s favourite character.

But who is this creature with terrible claws and terrible teeth in his terrible jaws?!

There is a lovely little gift shop at the visitor centre selling all of the characters and books as well as a cafe with benches outside where you can have a little picnic too.

I got Aazeen a soft Gruffalo child’s toy as that is her favourite character – what happened when I gave it to her? She asked where’s the mummy! I know the Gruffalo is a he but for us it’s a she. So off I went back inside to get mummy too. 

What about COVID19?

I am a nervous wreck when it comes to going to public places now, however, I was at ease throughout our time there. Not only because it was outdoor of course, there were plenty of groups of families but everyone was respectable of each other’s space and distance and took turns to take pictures with the figures.

Inside the gift shop, you were required to wear mask and there were hand sanitising stations dotted around everywhere.

The costs?

You only have to pay for parking! So we paid £4.50 for 3 hours, so a complete bargain for a fabulous day out with the entire family. 

Will we be going back?

We will definitely be going back, it’s not something you visit once and that’s it, it is a great way to spend time, blow off the cobwebs and keep the kids occupied and entertained without much effort!

Have you been to the Gruffalo Trail in Brentwood or perhaps a local one to you?