Top 30 Best Forest exploration in Manchester

“We had a fantastic day at Manchester Bees forest school today. It was lovely to see my two children grow in confidence throughout the day and get involved with so much, including lighting fires and drilling! Thanks to Siân for making everything so accessible for my daughter, who is deaf. The children went straight into the bath when we got home, and the water turned brown with mud! That’s the sign of a great day!”

“Sandy Lane nursery is the most amazing nursery. The staff are so lovely with a genuine interest in your child, the outside is very very spacious with lots and lots for the children to do. The visits to the forest is my sons favourite. They always keep you up to date with any activities etc that is going on and always keep you informed of what your child has been doing throughout the day, regularly sending you pictures. Thank you Sandy Lane for being so amazing.”

“We had a great time today (11th Feb 2023) for my daughter's 6th Birthday. The children liked the play centre, the quads, and the food. It was clean, busy but not crowded. I liked that there was an area reserved for parents as well as the party room. The party was well-managed and the host was informative. We also hired Funky Faces Manchester face painter, who was excellent, and it was good of the venue to let us do that. They were good with getting health and safety information such as ingredients and allergens of the cake we brought, and insurance details of the face painter. Everyone had a lovely time and we would definitely recommend it. Thank you!”

“Really brilliant location, lovely staff! Great freedom for little ones!”

“We love it here, we come to forest school which my little boy loves”

“My daughter started here in September just as she turned two, as a nervous and anxious person I was dreading the transition for the both of us but Nikita made me feel so comfortable and was so compassionate towards the both of us during this time. My daughter now looks forward to her weeks here and tells me how much she misses “kita” during their time apart. All of the staff are wonderful and treat the children with the upmost love and respect. They fill their days with multiple activities that are fun but also educational building essential life skills and confidence in our little ones. Their is a indoor nursery with a home from home environment and the outdoor / garden area is full of activities such as a mud kitchen, bug hotel and camp fire. If your child is slightly feral like mine and a free spirit this is definitely the best place for them! My daughters language and confidence has come on leaps and bounds here and I cannot recommend the nursery enough. Thank you for creating a conscious, beautiful space for our children to blossom. There really is no better place local!”

“My child has been in this school for a long time now and she has loved it so far”

“My boys are 3&6 and have been going to forest school since they could walk! They love it! The holiday club is perfect as I don’t have to be out in the cold mud all day but they can do what they love!!!”

“My daughter loves going to this nursery! She loves all the staff and has made great bonds with lots of the staff. We are very happy with how they nurture our daughters interests, and feel she is in the best hands while she’s here. Very glad we chose this nursery.”

“Had a lovely view of the park from my window used to love watching people walk their dogs when I was in prison”

“Excellent experience at forest school , would highly recommend for anyone who’s child enjoys being outdoors, staff are warm, welcoming and very accommodating”

“A superb ethos coupled with fabulous 11+ results. Grounds are bigger than you expect. New all year-round nursery opening in January 2023”

“We had our sons 5th birthday party here and what a fantastic time they all had. Excellent staff and a lovely clean playcentre. Would highly recommend this playcentre for a party. Just turn up and the rest is taken care of, amazing.”

“Lovely holiday park. Sally and her team were superb and very professional. We stayed in one of the glamping pods. It was clean and suited us for the couple days. The environment was very quiet and calm when we were there(Easter weekend 22).Felt safe as well, frequent checks were done by security around the site. There's lots to explore in and around the area. The local Tesco is just a stone throw away. Our son enjoyed himself and that was the whole idea. Will visit this park again.”

“A lovely place for a walk. Can get busy at weekends and when the sun is out but definitely worth a visit. There is ample parking, toilets and a cafe. There is also a little garden centre which also sells teas, coffees and ice creams. Beutiful country side right on our doorstep.”

“Lovely country park, nice walk around the duck ponds and up to the waterfall, the forest is lovely to explore too. Parking ok, it gets busy at weekends and school holidays but we usually always manage to park up, there are toilets on both ends of the park which is handy with small kids, the cafe is nice too, reasonably priced and good selection. We usually buy duck food from the cafe to feed the ducks with.”

“Absolutely love Strinesdale foot paths and 2 large Reservoir's that allow fishing. It also has free parking and is that vast of a space you can walk round it and not bump in to anyone. Strinesdale also has a few picnic areas and amazing views out to the Pennines. There are 3 different routes you can take for that casual stroll or if you are looking to explore of the beat and track you can end up right in the hills and come out at a little farm house. All in all this is one of my favourite places to walk my dog and would recommend it to anyone.”

“It’s nice park, usually go for a walk with my daughter, she loves it too.”

“If this was in the Lake District it would be a star attraction. Fortunately it isn't, so it remains very quiet and relatively unvisited. The approach from Bollington, past the derelict and dangerous Ingersley Mill, is interesting but worth it. Combine it with walks through Rainow, along Kerridge Hill and a visit to White Nancy and you have an excellent outing. But don't tell too many people otherwise it will lose its quiet charm.”

“Lovely place to explore with paths in many directions. It's often so peaceful and quiet.”

“A great place to walk a dog. I've been going to john Leigh park since for ever. The path all round is a great little walk. It has two park areas for the kids. One for bigger kids then further round one for the younger kids which has a fence all around it. It has a small aviary. There are always loads of people there when it's a sunny day and the ice cream man parks up in it on warm days too. It has tennis courts/ football/ and basketball courts. It is a very popular place with dog walkers so not a place to go if petrified of dogs.”

“Excellent production. Very proud to support our own little theatre”

“Parking is easy if arriving early at the woods entrance near the college main gate. Lovely walk through the trees by the river, then up around the water works onto farmland where you may see deer. Then around the wonderful wild glade woods and back again. Saw lots of Wrens, Robins, Finches, Nuthatch etc. The usual suspects. Looks nice and clean, mostly.”

“A wonderful park...BMX track which we enjoyed watching people use, different areas of the park including an area with sandpit, swings, slides, climbing apparatus, a zip line that was unfortunately broken, a small pond with ducks and a fantastic interactive game with silver poles that had built in touch screen games such as 2 people one is red one is blue and when your colour lights up on pole you hit it to turn it off - never seen before and it was a huge hit!!”

“Really good place to visit with free parking. We took 2 children age 5 and 8 with bikes, spent time looking at the nature reserve then took a long ride along the old railway track. Very enjoyable visit and we plan to go back or to different sections of Middlewood Way.”