River Lee Country Park nr Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire is part of the Lee Valley Regional Park. The larger park is just massive, and too much to review in just one day. In fact it’s 26 miles long and goes through London, Essex and Hertfordshire! I’ll mention some of the highlights of the River Lee Country Park as a whole, but in this review I’ll be focusing on the walk we did to explore the Lee Valley sculpture trail.
Throughout River Lee Country Park there is a network of paths that criss cross each other so you don’t have to follow the trail that we took. There’s also an impressive variety of waterways around here. There’s streams, large rivers, canals, lakes and man-made watercourses. Generally the footpaths are a decent distance away from the water BUT there are points where you’re really close. Make sure you keep an eye on little ones around here as the water can be very deep.
Lee Valley Sculpture Trail
There’s actually three different routes you can take to explore the Lee Valley Sculpture Trail. The longest one is 5.5 miles long, the middle one is 4 miles and the shortest 3 miles. We went for the middle option. Having done a 5k hike before in just over 2 hours I though this would take us 3ish. Nope. FOUR FLIPPING HOURS. At one stage it had taken us an hour to do only the first 1/5th of the route and I was seriously worried we might be there until the end of time! Don’t worry, we sped up. You can cycle the routes, and I’d recommend you do unless you also want to make a day of it.
Some of the sculptures along the Lee Valley Sculpture Trail are better than others. The Viking Ship – meh. Although that might be because we were being chased by geese at the time! The natural play sculptures area was by far my favourite. It’s actually lots of interconnected areas and has various sculptures in it. The kids spent ages here. Oh, and the giant’s chair. That’s very cool.
Other highlights
Within River Lee Country Park there are various other highlights. I have a confession here. I didn’t realise that this was a dog agility course – I thought it was a play trail! And so did the kids. Who happily played on it. Bad Mummy!
There’s also Lee Valley Animal Adventure Park, Royal Gunpowder Mills, Cornmill Meadows Dragonfly Sanctuary, Broxbourne Old Mill & Meadows and Silvermeade. We also popped in to the Lee Valley White Water Centre. The rapids were empty when we visited, but normally they’re full and you can watch people white water rafting around the course. Which is pretty cool! If you’re lucky you might even get to see some elite athletes or famous faces!
As we completed the Lee Valley sculpture trail we spotted the disc golf course. It’s free to do, you just need a frisbee each. It’s easier than crazy gold because you just need to hit the target rather than get the frisbee in anything (although you can if you want to). You’ll find the disc golf course in the River Lee County Park near the White Water Centre.
Getting around the Lee Valley sculpture trail, and River Lee Country Park in general, is really easy for pushchairs as it’s mostly paved. It was only really in the natural play area that we went off-path.
Wildlife in River Lee County Park
Considering you’re in such an urban area (the M25 is less than 1/2 mile as the crow flies from the Viking Boat) we saw tons of wildlife whilst we were walking the Lee Valley sculpture trail. As well as all the usual water birds etc we also saw a heron flying around, several muntjac deer, a fox, a partridge, a woodpecker and found a fox’s den! That’s pretty cool! Sadly we also saw a dog chasing a terrified deer around a marshland and his owner who didn’t care at all! That was really upsetting.
Our River Lee Country Park and Lee Valley Sculpture Trail Review
Unless we were on bikes (or without the kids) I cannot imagine doing the full 5.5 mile route. The route that we took was long, but manageable, and it kept the kids entertained throughout. We only missed a couple of sculptures vs the longer route so I don’t think it’s too much of an issue. If it’s all too much you can just take one of the other footpaths and take a shortcut. I think that the River Lee Country Park is so big you could quite happily just dip in and out, exploring small bits, without needing to do the full Lee Valley sculpture trail if you didn’t want to.
Admission cost
Free
Parking / How to get there
Parking – Various car parks. We parked at Pindar Car Park, 231 Windmill Ln, Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, EN8 9AJ.
Charges – £1 (1 hour), £2 (2 hours), £3 (3 hours), £4 (4 hours) £5 (up to 24 hours). Prices are correct at the time that this review of River Lee Country Park was published / updated.
Toilets
This is a bit of an issue. The loos at Pindar car park are closed indefinitely due to vandalism. Apparently there is a cafe and loos in the Herts Young Mariners Base Outdoor Centre just behind the car park. We ended up nipping into the train station and using those but I wouldn’t recommend it! There’s also loos at the water sports centre.
Food
Cafe at the water sports centre. Picnics allowed.
What else is there to do nearby?
Cedars Park and Cedars Nature Centre are both just around the corner. Celtic Harmony is quite close as well.
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Hi, I’m Vicky. My husband and I live in Aylesbury with our three children; a 14 year old son, an 12 year old son and a 6 year old daughter. I (mostly) love spending time together as a family. We visit all kinds of places and we’re quite happy to drive a fair distance for a decent day out. A few years ago I decided to set up Free Time with the Kids as a way to share our experiences of these family days out.
You’ll find the essential information you need to know before your visit that can be surprisingly hard to find out. Where do I park? How much will it cost me to get in? Are there any discounts available? Are there loos? Can I take a picnic or get food? My aim is to be your go-to guide for all your free and cheap family days out across Bucks, Beds, Oxon, Herts & slightly beyond. I really hope you find the reviews helpful. If there’s anywhere that you’d recommend please get in touch contact@freetimewiththekids.com or get in touch via Facebook
