Getting our sweat on at The Bear Trail in Cullompton

“We’re going on a bear hunt.. We’re going to catch a big one and we’re not scared” (Michael Rosen)

When I saw The Bear Trail advertised on Facebook, Rosen’s book echoed in my mind and I thought it was a great basis for a kids activity.  Having said that, I don’t know whether or not the story was the inspiration for this particular venture but it certainly lends itself to the activities.

The guys at The Bear Trail have been working hard on their marketing. It had popped up on my feed a lot before I got invited to come along to a bloggers event there, so I was very interested to check it out with the family.

Bear-Outline_small-1

Exploring Exeter at The Bear Trail!

We got there early at 9.30, keen and green in our ‘be prepared to get very muddy clothes’ and we were welcomed by our hosts Philippa and Ben with a buffet breakie and a story about how it all began.

Ben is ex army (Rifles to be precise) and his vision was to “to provide children with a space to invent play and be tested so they work together and push their boundaries.. challenge themselves mentally and physically, get wet, run and climb around in muddy fields and experience an element of risk which reflects life” in Ben’s words it’s a break from technology, a fun activity for families that involves getting VERY muddy.

The Bear Trail caters for all ages with an indoor play area for drawing and creating and a small outdoor area for the littlies to experiment.

The main event is an outdoor army-style assault course for little people and their adults.

My kids had a great time bombing around the assault course, my daughter (who is three) did well getting around a lot of it too. On the day we visited, it was sunny and there hadn’t been any rain for a while so the mud was pretty sparse but there was a good variety of challenges to get the kids adrenaline going.

We completed the course twice and headed to the play barn where the kids did some colouring while we waited for lunch.

At the Bear Trail they have a woodfired oven and make pizzas on site, they also sell a variety of sandwiches and cakes.  The pizza was tasty and well deserved after all the exercise!

The Bear Trail is very new and Ben is planning several other onsite activities, including running some family training sessions.  We had a fab morning and we are keen to see how the business grows.

We’re definitely looking forward to seeing what else Ben and Philippa come up with and we’ll be back in the winter when there’s more MUD!

You can find The Bear Trail at Westcott, Cullompton, Devon, EX15 1SA, it’s about 30 minutes drive from Exeter.  Please check their site here for full details and prices. 

*Thank you to Katie at Chalk and Ward for the invite and Ben and Philippa for the hospitality.*

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,