The musical trail at The Grove Hotel was one of our favourite lockdown discoveries and we’ve been so many times since! It’s fun, a perfect length for little legs and has the bonus of being a great spot for bluebells and wildflowers too.
Musical Trail
The Grove Hotel have created some fantastic nature trails within their estate including the musical trail. The mile long trail includes 7 different music stations with a range of instruments including xylophones, pan pipes and organ pipes.
Picnics
There are large picnic benches at most of the music stops so it’s a great place to enjoy a picnic. Just bear in mind there are no toilets unless you’re staying at the hotel.
Wildflowers & Bluebells
During bluebell season the whole woodland is covered in bluebells. It’s absolutely beautiful! Then in early Summer at the end of the musical trail you’ll come out at a spectacular field of wildflowers with a colourful carpet of poppies in orange, yellow, red and pinks. It makes the most amazing backdrop for photos!
As with all wildflower meadows please be careful not to trample of the flowers and don’t pick them.
Best bits: We absolutely love it here and have been back several times already since discovering it and she enjoys it more every time we go. The trail is the perfect length for tiny legs to walk it on their own and the music stops add lots of fun!
Worst bits: There aren’t any public toilets. Obviously there are at the hotel itself so you could always treat yourself to lunch or afternoon tea after your walk and problem solved!
Pram friendly: Yes
Bike & scooter friendly: Yes
Location & parking: The musical trail begins in the woodland next to The Grove Hotel, view the trail map here.
The Grove have confirmed that they are happy for non guests to enjoy their woodland trails and park in their car park during the Easter holidays. After Easter they are happy for non residents to use the car park as long as it’s not busy. This is only likely to be an issue during peak summer months. The best place to park is next to Anouska’s children’s nursery which is signposted once you reach the car park. Once parked walk past Anouska’s and the children’s playground and there is an entrance to the woods on your right. Follow the path round until you see sign posts for the different trails. Take the route to the right to start the musical trail.
Sat nav: Use postcode WD17 3NL rather than the hotel address as you’ll end up completely lost. Once you take the turning into the hotel you will come to a bridge with traffic lights. Be patient, they can take forever to change but they do eventually!
Cost: Completely free, even the parking 🙂
Baby in Bucks Tips
- Dress children in long trousers if you are visiting the wildflowers as there are thistles and nettles within the flowers. There are plenty of routes to avoid them, you just need to be careful.
- Take your own stick for the musical instruments (we used a xylophone stick). There are ones provided at most stations, but sometimes they are missing/you might not want to touch them.
