Leavesden Country Park review

Leavesden Country Park in Hertfordshire is awesome. I could leave it there and just say put the postcode into your sat nav and go. It’s completely free and it’s free to park and it’s really big. It combines a big revamped adventure play area, cool heritage trail, pretty garden and other play area so there’s plenty to do and see. If do you visit this country park and have a great free day out with the kids – or visit anywhere I’ve featured on Milton Keynes Kids please do consider buying me a coffee to help with the running costs of this website. 

Where is Leavesden Country Park? 

Leavesden Country Park is in Abbots Langley in Hertfordshire – not too far from Watford or the Harry Potter Studios. It’s a relatively straightforward journey from Milton Keynes down the M1 and off at junction six. It took us about 40 minutes to get there in no traffic. The best postcode is WD5 0NX. We just drove slightly further on to get to the car parks. There are two. At the time we visited in August 2019 it was free to park. 

What are the best bits about Leavesden Country Park? 

Adventure play area 

When we visited the adventure play area hadn’t long reopened. It has a big climbing frame with tunnels which were great for hide and seek (and staying dry in the rain!) Both my six year old and four year old found it easy and fun to climb. There was also a plane themed piece of equipment which was fab for role play. There are swings, a nest swing and beams. It’s gated and a good space for children to run around but not so big that you would lose them. Dogs aren’t allowed in the play area. 

Heritage trail 

Nine sculptures are in Leavesden Country Park and it’s known as the Minds, Machines and Movies Heritage Trail. It was created by artists as a tribute to the site’s history as Leavesden Aerodrome and Rolls Royce factory, the Leavesden Film Studios and the Leavesden Asylum and Hospitals. You may see a couple of the sculptures when you park your car. The trail is easy to follow from the adventure play area – essentially you do just walk in a straight line and the sculptures have lots of information about them. Don’t be surprised when you come to the road with the pedestrian crossing – you do cross the road and into the next part of the country park. My sons favourite sculpture by far was the wooden wonder – a beautiful plane which they could sit in and press a button to hear stories from people who experienced the Leavesden Aerodrome. There’a also a really quirky one with funny characters. There area has loads of open space and is really lovely and peaceful. 

Garden

Right next to the adventure play area and cafe is a small pretty garden – perfect place for having a coffee or ice-cream. There’s a really attractive bug hotel, plants and flowers and a chillout area with cushions which my boys enjoyed hiding under. 

Langley Lane play area 

Cross the road after you’ve found the last of the sculptures and you’ll come to ANOTHER play area. This one is called Langley Lane play area. To the right is a cool wooden climbing frame set in sand with some diggers – you could take a bucket and spade. The rest of the play area is big. The equipment is older but there’s a couple of climbing frames, swings and a parkour area. The zipwire was broken when we went. 

What else is at Leavesden Country Park? 

There are woodland walks and we walked along a path which was really accessible. There are tennis courts. Keep those on your right, walk down the path and you’ll then come to a third play area. It’s ok – it’s quite old and there’s a wooden climbing frame and hammock – not a frame for young children though. There’s also some gym equipment. The cafe is lovely with a loo with baby change. I had a coffee and the boys had ice-creams. The cafe specialises in pizza. 

Would we recommend Leavesden Country Park and any tips for going? 

Yes, absolutely you should go. I love it when we visit somewhere and it exceeds our expectations. Leavesden Country Park is fun and educational. It’s a beautiful country park with a lovely relaxed garden and a cafe. It’s completely free to visit if you take a picnic and well worth the petrol money. All I would say is leave enough time to enjoy it all. We spent about three and a half hours there as we were meeting a friend afterwards and my sons were disappointed to leave. They especially loved the plane that they could pretend to fly and are desperate to go back just to go on that. 

We enjoyed Leavesden Country Park, where else can we visit? 

There are lots of country parks you can visit – many you do pay to park at – but otherwise entry is free. You can find a whole list on the country parks section of my website.