High Lodge — Attraction in West Suffolk

Our first time here, meeting up with family. We had a lovely dog walk around the heritage trail, which, once away from the cafe/picnic area, was quite peaceful. Plenty of parking, toilets, picnic areas, and things to do. There is GoApe and Archery among some of the activities. Very popular with families, cyclists, and dog walkers. Some of the trails are shared with the cyclists, and even though it does say 'shared trail,' some of the riders didn't slow down. Not great when there are small children running around. We used both the Cafe and The Pantry for hot food and drinks. For a December day, it was extremely busy and very disorganised. The Pantry is great if you just want hot sausage rolls, pasties, etc, and hot drinks. But this is where it goes wrong. There was no system for the hot drinks. People who had ordered after us were getting their drinks first. We had to ask in the end where ours were. The lady didn't have a clue. The Cafe is where you order hot meals, burgers, chips, etc, but it is chaotic. There was a big queue with 2 order points. Which is fine until you get to the front the queue, step forward to an order point, and the staff member walks off. You are left there waiting, whilst others in the queue are being served at the other point. You also collect your food in the same area, so it was just jammed with people trying to get food. Parking is expensive. I appreciate that some of it funds the upkeep, but at £3 per hour, up to a maximum of £15 is steep. If you're looking for somewhere to walk your dog, get coffee, etc. Brandon Country Park is the place to go. Otherwise, if you know Thetford Forest, park up in one of the laybys...

We visited on a weekday during school time so not many children about. There are lots of things for children to do here. The Gruffalo trail, adventure playground, spotting leaves, trees, birds as in nature trails. Bike hire. Go Ape I think there's more but as I say we had no little people with us so didn't look at it all. The walks are many and flat, you decide the length, the forest is big enough to spend more than a day exploring and not see the same spot. Very calming and soothing walking around hearing the birds and wind in the trees. The noise of the aircraft is quite loud but soon gets lost in the vastness of space, it certainly didn't bother us, they were hard to spot even though you could hear them. The cafe served food, plus there were sandwiches to order, hot and cold. A couple of soups as well as sausage rolls and pasties. The cakes also looked good, the coffee was delicious . My only gripe is the cost of parking £9.50 for 4 hours and I believe £12.50 all day, this did seem a lot but they clearly spend the money maintaining the whole area to a high standard. You can park elsewhere in the forest for free but all these amenities are close at hand, well maintained,...

Visited Go Ape. We did the Treetop challenge course. It took 2 of us, one adult and a child (10 years old) around 3 hours to complete but that did involve some waiting as we accidentally veered on the wrong course which we were rudely made aware of by our instructor. If it wasn't for the rude and sullen instructor I would have rated Go Ape 4 stars. The Treetop challenge was easy for a 10 year old who enjoyed it but not too easy. I didn't stay longer than the 3 hours as the parking gets more expensive. We received free parking for our next visit so I would go again and visit the forest next time, maybe do the bike ride and have a picnic. You can bring your own bikes or hire them there at the bike hut. The forest definitely looks lovely and would be a great day out for all the family as there is lots to do besides Go Ape. Hopefully you get a nice instructor who doesn't try and put a dampen on your day. Ours tried too. Despite the 3 star rating, I would definitely recommend a visit. Children and families will have a great time as would...