Took my 4yr old to do the gruffalo trail before it ended (superworm trail coming in its place soon. Having never been before and not realising how big the forest is, it was quite stressful to begin with trying to find the right place to park.... Make sure you use postcode WS15 2UQ on your sat navs, not just Cannock Chase or visitors centte both of which we tried first 🙈 Thd correct car park was super busy, had signsd saying full on arrival but the attendants did let a few cars in. Parking is quite pricey, didn't know how long we would be so opted for a days parking at £8 (you can use the ring go app, pay with card or pay with cash). Trail maps can be purchased from the cafe which is not the best idea, we had to queue for 20mins with all the people wanting to order food so a waste of time and not good for social distancing. Wouuld be better if there was a machine to buy them from seperately, or pay on an app for a virtual one or something. The actual trail was great, although a few sculptures were missing as the trail is finishing and they were doing work on some other bits. There's also some lovely play areas, a nice little fairy area and some fab kids bike areas/paths, wish we hadn't taken the bike having seen them. Overral, a great place to visit once you know where you are going.

Sunday 12th January we had our monthly greyhound meeting 33 dogs attended. £1 for 3 hours in the visitors centre is great value. Our walk lasted 1 hour and then coffee from the cafe. Lots of outdoor seating, toilets and bike parks by the cafe. Lots of paths and tracks great for running, cycling and dog walking.

We called here on our way home from a few days away for a break in the journey and it seemed a nice place to go and visit. So we parked at the car park with the visitor centre and paid for parking. Having had a few hours drive the first thing we wanted to do was to use the loos. We went to the visitor centre and to the coffee shop, that was only serving take away bits and had a sign up saying no loos. Then we saw another building that we assumed was the loos (which it was) but unfortunately along with other people we found that the loos were in fact closed. The sign said that the loos were only open on a Sat & Sun! This was a Wednesday. There were a lot of cars in the car park and had paid for parking and I am sure would of been happy to pay to use the loos as well had they been open. There was a group of either mums or child minders or whatever with a group of small children having a picnic on the grass and we thought wonder if they are aware that these children will not be able to use the toilet. We decided to walk anyway and hoped that the other visitor centre (where go ape is) would have toilets that were open. It took us over an hour to get there and thankfully they were open. Had we known (we got the information off the internet for the visitor centre saying it had car park which was payable etc that they had put that in fact the toilets were only open on Sat & Sun but the other ones at the other visitor centre etc would be open then we would of driven there and paid for parking there instead). Lovely walks but not so enjoyable when you have driven some distance expecting to be able to use the loo before you set off on a walk. Or maybe stick a sign on the parking meter that the loos are closed so you dont pay for parking expecting to be able to use them before you head off into the woods!

I read an article in Birmingham Mail about dolls in trees that were located in Cannock Chase. I have wanted to go there for a long walk but this piqued my interest. I made a trip there last Saturday and was informed that this exhibit was taken down to "prevent people from gathering" - outside. This is ridiculous. Cannock Chase is a lovely place to visit for a bike ride, walk, or hike. There are separate trails for people on foot and bike riders which is excellent for both groups. The only negative aspect for me was the amount of trash everywhere. I am not blaming the employees who work there, as I do not believe it is their responsibility to be bin collectors in the woods and all the trails. I blame the laziness of the people who come out here with their rubbish and can't be asked to bring it back with them. It's sad. All the masks everywhere too, this is a hazard to the birds and animals live here. This is such a beautiful place of nature and wildlife habitat. It needs to stay that way.

Review is for the full blue route trail. Not the other MTB trails. I have a new mountain bike and new to MTB so wanted to get used to the bike. I rode the full blue route clockwise and then anti-clockwise. It is mostly good but there are long stretches of deep loose stones and shingle which can be quite dangerous to cycle on especially going downhill. Treat it like ice. Saw many struggling with it. I am used to cycling and for those who are not it’s a fairly good workout as it can be quite strenuous. Anti-clockwise is a bit easier. It would be first class if they tried to get rid of the stones and shingle and made it a bit safer. The lower green trails around the car parks are excellent for families and children with good surfaces. There is good ample car parking £6 all day and an excellent cycling shop.

I live in a village that’s actually in the chase itself so it’s a full 3 mins walk to get into the woods. The chase is a beautiful place but you need to go to the area of it that’s for what you want, there are bike trails in a couple of parts, there are childrens play areas just outside rugeley but if you are looking for peace and wildlife walk out of the main areas there are miles if walks, little secret lakes and streams, amazing woodland and as for nature I walk the dog every day in the chase and regularly see deer, birds of prey, foxes and lizards and snakes when it’s warm enough... amazing place to live

Cannock chase is a breath of fresh air from all the built up towns and city's near by ,their are lots of lovely walks and and wild life to see from deer to snakes .there also lots of things for children to do at birches valley ,there's lots of history to see too if you know wear to look from the First World War rifle ranges to the footing of the old military huts along with Freda's grave .The site of RAF Hednesford is also worth a wander round .Not to forgetting the music festival and historic reenactment .The only down side it's very bissy at the weekends with mountain bickers although most are fine there are some amongst them who think it belongs to them and every one else has to move out of there way or get run down !

We came here on a cold but sunny Sunday in September with boys aged 6 and 8 and arrived at about 2pm. We parked in the Birches Valley car park which is at the bottom near the cafe. I’d worried about which car park to go to and the information on the website was a bit lacking. But it turns out that if we’d gone for the other main car park, it was only a short walk away from our car park, up a hill and near to Go Ape. So it didn’t really matter which car park we’d chosen. We managed to get a space In the car park but it did look busy and all the car parks we saw had loads of cars. The spaces were long enough to accommodate our tow bar bike rack. The parking machine is a bit confusing - fortunately there were handwritten instructions on a nearby blackboard otherwise it would have taken me even longer than it did to get my parking ticket. You need to know your car reg which I always struggle to remember anyway, but then the next steps aren’t very intuitive somehow. I paid by card but you could pay by cash too. The cycle trails were well marked out compared with other forest parks we’ve been too. We did the two green trails which are aimed at beginners and families. The first one was a little bit hilly in places and the track was mostly gravelly/small rocks which can make cycling a bit hazardous as you’re more liable to swerve. It was busy with pedestrians and other cyclists and so there were a few occasions where we were stuck behind people and just couldn’t get past. We did enjoy the first trail though, and we had to speed down a hill and cycle through a stream at one point which was exciting. We all got a little wet. We did that trail twice. Then we had a takeaway coffee and ice cream - there were lots of spare picnic benches despite the crowds. We then did the other green trail (the one with the Gruffalo figures on it) which was easier than the first trail and didn’t really have any hills or inclines and was less busy. The boys loved spotting the Gruffalo figures and we also saw den building and a playground although we didn’t stop to use them. We did this trail twice as well as we really enjoyed it. There were toilets and portaloos but we didn’t need to use these.

This place is amazing. i went yesterday on my new electric scooter and wizzed around birches valley with my dog and family. i realy did enjoy everything about it(apart from when i fell of my scooter ang grazed myself) there is lots of places for your children and dog to play. In the woods there is lots of tents made out of sticks. when we went it rained and we took cover in them so make sure to be close if i rains unexpectedly. It was very clean no litter was there. If you are thinking about letting your child go to go ape. it is at birches valley i have not been there but i have heard it is fun

My favourite part was Birches Valley. We sat and had a picnic on one of the tables which was really nice then took a short walk between the trees I would recommend this as a day out for anyone . Children, Cyclists, walkers, it is a very good venue for pop concerts in the evening. We visit often in the summer.