What a lovely park to host a 5k race. It features hundreds of acres of maintained woodland…read moreinterspersed with fields and streams, making for a great trail run experience. It's easy to get lost even with a well-marked race route! A little-known bit of history about the park is that the Georgian hunting lodge was used as a POW camp for German officers and was heavily bugged. The British were able to learn all the Nazi plans, but were unable to act on many of them due to the various levels of military intelligence involved, and subsequently the Cold War. It was as important as Bletchley but receives none of the prestige as it was all ordinary translation and not high-tech codebreaking. I'd really love to go go back and try the Go Ape high ropes course - looks a blast but we were exhausted from the race!

Had a wicked time at 51st State festival here. Real close to Cockfosters station too.read more

Another AMAZING park around Finchley area. I love this park, and can just walk with my 2 years old…read morechild around and enjoy the dogs and park facilities.

London parks are always a welcome respite from the grime of the roads ans this one serves it's…read morepurpose quite nicely. There's a little cafe in the middle and few statues around which are pretty interesting.

What a superb day out for the summer…read more On arrival you drive into a large car park facing a long strip of grass that serves as a picnic area. Walk one way and you come to the huge lake full of ducks and Canada geese (please don't feed them, concentrate on the ducks as the geese are highly destructive and helping to lower the population of native species). You can walk along the concrete path on one side of the lake and all the way around through the woods on the other. Nestled on the edge of the woods is the adventure playground. There is a large one for older kids, and a smaller one for toddlers, with lots of picnic benches all around them. On hot days this place is always packed. Behind the playgrounds is a further picnic area, and the fantastic Rare Breeds Farm. There are a selection of endangered or very rare animals from pigs, to goats to chickens and turkeys. They breed them there too and time it right and you can see the babies ambling around. It's a very important and commendable initiative to have in a public country park. I always place a donation in the box. The snack shop sells a variety of food and drink, including ice creams and is fairly reasonably priced for such a place. If you don't fancy eating your picnic near the car park you can walk beyond the lake to the 100 Aker Wood. Supported by Buena Vista a lot of effort has been put into it. Most characters have their houses portrayed and they have been cleverly built around the oak trees that form the focal points of the fields. The kids will spend ages going from house to house, knocking on the doors and peering through the windows. There are two bridges to play poohsticks on, and a stream with rocks that the kids can jump across too. A large open field with long grass is the ideal picnic spot, but there are plenty of trees around the edges if you want some shade. Scare the kids by pretending to be caught in the Heffalump trap too - it's fun! Even children with only a passing interest in Winnie The Pooh will be captivated by the houses, and it's nice to see something so well maintained in a public space. When you sit in the field too, that space seems idyllic. Looking down through the trees it's easy to be at peace and really feel that you are in the countryside. The £4 weekday / £5 weekend and bank holiday car park charge may seem a little steep to some, but when you consider that you can easily spend the whole day here I think it's good value for money compared to some of the more traditional days out. One word of warning though, you have to pay to exit the car park and the machine only takes coins from 5p up to £2 so make sure you have the right money!

Aldenham Country Park is really in Elstree ( the map page would only accept Watford)…read moreThis is a beautiful location full of woodland walks, open fields, and lakes. It's easy to park and you pay to get out so make sur you have plenty of £1 coins. There is a lovely animal area that you can walk around. At the exits are sinks with soap and running water. There is a lovely picnic area and a traditional childerns park. There is also an assult course for older children. The best by far is the Winnie-the-Pooh's '100 Aker Wood' trail where you can walk around to see if Winnie-the-Pooh or any of his friends are at home. Each house is made of wood and has a door knocker. The children simply love going from one house to the next. This is a lovely location and perfect for a day out.

This is such a great park with so many corners and areas tucked away for you to discover…read more There are three lakes on which you have geese, ducks and coots nesting (and the odd visiting Egyptian Goose popping in to say hello) as well as a very well tended walled garden tucked out of the way with its own conservatory that is open for a few hours to the public every Sunday. The big open green spaces give way to tennis courts and basketball courts that are all open and (seem) free to use by the general public. These are right next to the much slower paced bowls pitch and just across the pond you have a new and well frequented outdoor gym. Behind the gym there is crazy golf course (could do with a little spruce up but still a good laugh and very reasonably priced) which then leads out into 2 big football pitches. This big area often welcomes fair grounds and summer fetes. Very easily accessed, is just opposite the Palmers Green train station. There is also a burned out stately home on the grounds that has planning permission to be turned into a cafe and a few other 'visitor centre' type things. I for one am looking forward to this going ahead and getting completed to bring more people into this particular part of the park as it feels a little abandoned and neglected. A fantastic place to go running and exercise, or simply to grab a picnic basket and do something much less energetic on the beautifully tended grass.

This is my absolutely favorite park in London. Mostly because I live right by it so its the one I…read morego to the most! It has a large field type area, with a few benches, and a few trees, but the highlight is a fallen tree, that is a great place to sit on/lean against and read a book. It also has crazy golf, and large pond complete with permanent little boys with boats, and an adventure playground. It is deceptively massive, and even has a house, that is now very run down, that I am reliably informed used to James I hunting lodge!

Lovely, spacious, and diverse neighborhood park. The park has a number of entrances and a diverse…read moreecosystem ranging from small woodlands, a wetlands area, a lake that you can walk around, a children's playground, mini golf, and open spaces to relax or play sports at. Great for people of all ages and fitness levels. Nice to have a green space like this in the local community. Well maintained and clean. It's sad that the cafeteria has fallen into disrepair and had to close down as well as the toilets. The council should get into action to fix those issues.

Four! Well actually it took me 8 attempts to sink a ball on the first hole, but I improved as the…read moreafternoon wore on. This is an excellent pitch and putt course in Grovelands Park. It's well maintained and the greens look immaculate. The nine holes are quite challenging and the course is nestled amongst some beautiful parkland. The prices are reasonable, about £4.00 for a round, which lasts for as long as you want it to, depeding on your standard and how many of you playing. If you don't have your own club you can hire one. The staff good fun and always willing to offer some advice, if you're a novice player like me. I've played here a few times, and always found it to be a very enjoyable way of killing a couple of hours on a slow Sunday afternoon.

Scratchwood has a bad rap because a lot of Gay men like to come here to dog. I never saw anyone…read morehaving sex in the bushes here .If this is your thing, I've just given you an inside tip. Don't say you heard it here. :) I just liked to have a wander around the old woodlands. This is proper woods. Moat Mount is has a big lake where you can see tadpoles. I was very excited by this being from New York. Once, the girlfriend dropped her car keys here and came at 6 AM to find them and did successfully. This is the real deal, scary if lost in the dark woods. Forget what you've heard. This is a good place.

My favourite local park but keep it under your hat…read more Since moving back to North London, place of my Birth and ancestral home, I've enjoyed getting my South London park walking routine back on. A good brisk walk blows out the work cobwebs and keeps the business stresses at bay. My favourite park is Oakwood. Just round the corner from my house, it's a calm green and beautiful antidote to life toils. Do I sound stressed.......?

Nan has a dog names Brooke. I call her Bubbling Brooke, meaning her love bubbles over like a…read morestream. I also call her sweet bitch, nut for tatties and all sorts of names. Nan has a wicked sense of humour and just laughs. I take Brooke to Mill Hill Park to do her tatties. If you don't know tatties means "walks". To go tatties, means to go for a walk. Brooke loves to run around here. Mill Hill is a largish park predominated by green open space. There is a small cafe that does nice hummus and a wilderness bit where you can let your dog chew and run free in the long grass. The people who come to this park are nice and usually rather mid to upper middle class, given the area, I am a snob, no bones about it. There is also a path around the center of the park to cycle on and a place to play that pensioner-type bowling game. Take your dog tatties here!

A lovely park during the day, especially for young children as they have a large playground with…read moreswings, slides, roundabouts and climbing frames. There is a large duck pond with a little bridge and many different trees, shrubs and flowers maticulously well kept by the staff. The small zoo that was there several years ago has been turned into a lovely cafe area, with local staff. It also boasts a bowling green with a pavillion, used several times a week by the team. There are also six tennis courts further down the hill towards Underhill and a well lit footpath leading down to them, although I would not recommend walking through there after dark.