Beacon Hill Country Park — Attraction in Charnwood

Beacon Hill is one of the local countryside parks that I have to admit I've seen little or none of. As Beacon Hill is a bit further out from Bradgate Park from where I live I've normally just ended up going to Bradgate.

However, I needed to entertain the kids today and wanted to go somewhere with children's play areas, which Bradgate does lack, so I decided to give Beacon Hill a whirl.

There are two car parks, Upper and Lower. I'd read in advance that there was a play area near the Lower car park, so I decided to park at Upper to make sure we actually walked round the park rather than struggling to test the kids away for a walk.

(It turns out there is actually a play area at the Upper car park, although as I was trying to stick to my plan I steered the kids away from it without them seeing it)

After first walking up to the beacon marker with its panoramic views of the surrounding countryside, we walked along the northern path to the Lower car park, taking a detour so the kids could play at another play area whose equipment was donated by a local rotary club.

There are plenty of birds in the trees that I would have liked to have taken time to stop and listen to if I didn't have the kids dragging me on.

Upon reaching the Lower car park we had a quick toilet stop and snack before the kids had a play. There's not an awful lot to actually play on; only a net climbing frame for older children and a small seesaw and climbing frame with slide for younger children.

After the kids had had a bit of a play I treated them to an ice lolly from an ice cream van that had pulled into the car park. On finishing these I had my only negative point to the park on discovering there are no recycling or general waste bins, only dog waste bins. I then saw a small sign telling people to take their rubbish home for recycling, which is fine if you know before you arrive at the park but I didn't have anywhere to put the rubbish from the lollies to take it back with me.

The kids had another quick play and then we walked back up the southern path. We took a small detour into the labyrinth before carrying on and we got to see some of the cows that graze in the park as we neared the Upper car park once more.

In terms of facilities, there are toilet blocks at both car parks with ladies, gents and combined disabled/baby change. There is a cafe under construction at the Lower car park that will supposedly be open in July 2019, although that may be pushing things given its current state of construction.

The parking costs are reasonable and the ticket machine at the Upper car park takes coin, card and contactless payments (I'd assume the machine at the Lower car park does the same but...

Great place to spend a few hours in nature and fresh air. We started in the lower car park, explored the park there, found the natural play area then walked to the summit which thankfully had some benches to rest at along the way up. At the top were lots of rocks to climb on and we found a spot out of the wind for our picnic. This is where the upper car park is too. We then walked down the summit back to the lower car park. We found the interesting Labryinth maze with creepy looking trees in and wooden Alice in Wonderland wooden figures - definately worth a look. We then went to the cafe and has some tea and cake and used the toilet facilities there. Both car parks had ice cream vans in them and this is a hit for dog walkers as we saw so many lovely dogs! In April there will be cattle and other livestock in some areas but none around in March. Lots to explore and our 8 year old loved it. We wore wellies which was good as we went off the beaten track and found mud and puddles, but you could just stick to the main path and wear trainers. Car park charges - you collect a ticket on entry and pay before you leave so you only pay for how long you have been there and it takes cards. Cafe was good, the fresh air was great and cannot wait to go back when it's a bit warmer and the livestock are there to see. I recommend it, especially if you have a dog or kids and will go back. The cafe...

Came here to try somewhere new to have a walk in the countryside.most of the paths are tarmac which is good and the ones that aren't are gravel stoned..There was several different walks you could do ranging from quite flat to more of a hill walk to get to the summit. None of it's super hilly though. There are several car parks to choose from,A cafe is there with nice food from sandwiches to sausage rolls etc. also cakes and hot drinks. You can sit inside or there benches outside on a warm day. There was toilets at the cafe but not many so there can be quite a queue. For children there was a play area,and open space if wanting to kick a ball around. It's dog friendly as there was loads of people walking there dogs and I believe you can also buy dog treats from the cafe as well. I enjoyed my walk here and will come back again.you have to pay for the car park when you leave,costs vary depending on how...