The Gruffalo Trail (Horsenden Hill)

We had a socially distanced visit to Horsenden Hill in search of the Gruffalo trail…

The Gruffalo Trail is one of these lovely activities that isn’t massively well advertised. It doesn’t have it’s own website, for example, but it’s a treat for the right age-group of children.

Horsenden Hill park itself is lovely regardless of the age of your kids, with woods, pasture, sometimes cows, a bit of history and fabulous views if you make it to the top.

Getting there

The main car park at Horsenden Farm is closed, however there is official parking opposite the Ballot Box pub, and also some parking spaces on the residential streets just South of the canal (a shorter walk to the Gruffalo trail if that’s your specific goal).

You can also find the Lower Thrifts Field playground just south of the canal, and lovely views of the the canal as you cross the Ballot Box bridge. (Note, there’s also a fab pirate ship playground by the Horsenden farm car park, north of the canal. I’m guessing it’s closed as the car park is closed, but I may be wrong.)

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Where is the Gruffalo Trail?

The trail itself is a small area towards the south of Horsenden Hill park. It’s a circular loop, so doesn’t necessarily have a starting or finishing point.

All the characters from the beloved Julia Donaldson book can be found here, in fantastic wooden sculptures true to Axel Scheffler’s original illustrations. Each character is found with a placard giving information on the animals themselves and the habitats in which they live.

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What else is there to do in the area?

On top of the previously mentioned playgrounds, Horsenden Hill park is extensive, with woods, open meadow and grassland. For the tree climbers out there, there’s a fabulous oak climbing tree next to the snake sculpture on the Gruffalo Trail.

It’s also worth noting that a large area of the park is also pasture for a herd of cows, so please keep gates closes where indicated. Littlie was fascinated by the cows (he doesn’t see much livestock up close, the Londoner that he is) and the cow-pat-dodging caused many squeals of delight.

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The trail itself is a lovely walk in the woods, but there are more woods up the hill as well. To get up the hill you could follow the Capital Ring walk (the long-distance walking trail that circumnavigates London itself), but there are quite a few different routes – just keep heading up. The view at the top is beautiful on a good day.

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Final thoughts

All in all, we had a lovely trip to Horsenden Hill. The park is a lovely area to roam around with the children, just being in nature, and added bonus goes to the face that it’s completely free.

It was especially nice to see the Gruffalo Trail through Littlie’s eyes now that he’s older, as it was the first time he got to properly experience it for himself.

I only wish the trail was better advertised… I had to help two separate families find the trail. Hopefully this page and the photos I’ve included may help those wanting to go in future. Enjoy!