Sherwood Pines

There is currently a Cornish Pasty stall based at Sherwood Pines in the vicinity of Go Ape and Treetop Nets.
The on site cafe was unfortunately closed until Saturday due to unforeseen circumstances. I'm not sure if the pasty stall is always there but I was horrified to be charged £3 each for a powder sachet Latte and Cappuccino. They clearly wanted to make mugs and rip off visitors due to the fact they couldn't get a coffee elsewhere. You don't even pay that for a fresh barista coffee in a high end chain. To pay that for a cheap awful tasting powder sachet coffee which you just add hot water to is daylight robbery. I hope the owner sees this review and rectifies this as soon as possible.
We then went into Treetop Nets and found they had a coffee machine which was 100% better and much cheaper. Please don't waste your good money on the terrible coffee at the pasty stall.

Visited here during half term. It was absolutely crazy busy. Rightly such a popular place now(I have known it go almost 30 years). It is great for having a wander in the woods.
The place is let down by extremely poor signage. It is easy to wander across a very high speed cycle path and get knocked over. There is no clarity of right of way between human/bike. In these Covid times please remember that some paths are very narrow and it is impossible to stay 2 metres apart - very few people wear masks in the woods

Came on easter sunday with hubby ,9 year oldsin and our dog .hubby and son brought mountain bikes.they went on medium bike route think is blue sais were lots diverting due to forest work so not as enjoyable but should be done next few weeks.i walked dog good little parks for kids,a war memorial set up like a real trenches. Lots of places to sit was busy but not cayotic all good social distancing and corvid rules followed plenty parking £8.00 day went cafe bit overpriced but usual in these places son enjoyed the practice mountain bike track too.alway enjoy coming here be back soon.

The MTB red route is a major disappointment as large areas are closed. Add that to the massive hike in parking prices and I think that an extra 20 minutes drive to Cannock will be the number one choice in future. Sausage rolls still excellent though.

I live close to the pines and use it often for the so called red route (blue route really). I was told that they would be working on said red route this summer, I wouldn't have bothered burms collapsing or totally flattened and not touched barely any flow throughout. On a Wet day that many ponds around even 20,000mm protection won't help here. The forest here is plenty big enough for a extended true red route but no they seem to think it will do, 30mins and it ridden but in other areas it geared up to take your money with ease. In short go to bike park Wales (when it reopens) or Cannock

Although we have enjoyed the red route many times we decided to go for a walk today. We enjoyed the Nightjar Trail, a three mile walk which takes you through a variety of habitats ranging from mature pine to lowland heathland. The Autumnal colours were lovely, especially the silver birch and American beech trees.

The Trenches installation is to be commended, capturing the brutality and horror of trench warfare during World War I, making you pause for thought and reflection on all the suffering and lives lost.

Gone ‘cashless’ apparently because of Covid yet conversely leaves the cabin in a dire state between guests with long brunette hair all over the bath and shower.

On arrival they asked us to add a card to the account as they had gone ‘cashless’ personally this is not great for us we feel more comfortable using cash on holidays or at least having the option so that we are more in control of our spending. They made it sound like payment would be taken each time we ordered something to our cabin, when we checked out they didn’t say we owed anything, and I hadn’t realised that they hadn’t taken payment for some food we had ordered to the cabin during our stay so we were incredibly shocked almost a month later just a few days before Christmas when we got a strongly worded letter saying that we owed them money and that it had to be paid by the date we received the letter. I was incredibly offended by this, a simple phone call would have been fine, or telling us at check out would have been even better but neither of these things happened. I contacted them and the response was -

“Since Covid , our locations are now "cashless" and will remain so for the foreseeable future . This has been a decision made, based on our Covid secure policy with the protection of our staff and customers, at the heart of the change in this procedure . I'm sorry this is not to everybody's ideal, however as a business we need to adapt and evolve to the everchanging threat that Covid still has on our practices”

This is all fair and well but if they are so concerned about hygiene and the ‘protection of customers’ then you would expect a higher level of cleanliness in the cabins on arrival. There were long brunette hairs all over the bathroom which couldn’t have possibly belonged to either me or my husband due to the length and colour of the hair and all the glasses in the cupboard had such a bad smell to them that we couldn’t drink out of them.

We have been to sherwood pines many times over the years since 2015 and many members of the family and extended family and friends have been going annually too, this is the first time since the lockdowns that we have been back and it is such a shame that this experience has left such a bad taste in our mouths that we won’t be returning.

My parents and extended family are older than us and they are even less comfortable with a ‘cashless’ system than we are. It opens up financial risks that don’t exist when using cash that sadly my parents have been victim too in the past so I am glad we now know to avoid forest holidays from now on for this reason.

Wonderful day out, probably my favourite of summer 2021. The service at Sherwood Pines cycle hire was exceptional. We got 3 mountain bikes with a buggy attachment for my 2 year old and a tag on type attachment for our 6 year old. All bikes were pristine, no flaws and the bikes and attachments were expertly advised on and fitted for size and age. The staff know the routes well and advised us on family routes plus the tougher blue route which my 12 year old son did alone as I was tied up with the little one. So enjoyable all round. The surroundings are peaceful and the play area and cafe all better than you’d expect. Pricing, expensive but you don’t mind when you are getting such good service, exercise and experiences. £8 parking we will be paying on both days we are here, but it’s to go towards upkeep of the forest and there’s no entrance fee as such so it’s really for that not just parking. Our bikes for a family of 2 adults and 3 kids were £96 for 3 hours including helmets. We got full use out of them and didn’t feel rushed. You do have the option to pay for less time and add extra charges on when you drop them back. They keep your driving licence until you return the bikes. If we come again we’d probably bring a cool bag with supplies inside to keep costs down a bit.

Lovely well managed Forest. It’s got a bike shop, cafe, Go Ape, Gruffalo trail and plenty of biking and walking trails. The gruffalo trail here is the best one we have been to , it all looked brand new. It was well laid out and easy to follow. The cafe had limited options but we managed to get something to eat. Parking is expensive at £8 for over 2 hours but it’s not bad for a day out. The bike shop is reasonably priced. The trails are good, well signposted and well maintained. We booked onto the nets adventure (part of Go Ape) and my 3 year old absolutely loved it. There’s also a park near it which he loved playing in. There’s another play area on the way through the gruffalo trail which has a sand pit and climbing frame. Overall, we had a great experience and would definitely return.

Really enjoyed our morning out here - we arrived early before 9.00am and managed to undertake quite a bit of walking with our two young boys and dog. Although it was quite busy when we were due to leave, we weren't falling over people and managed to keep our distance. Takeout service at the cafe onsite was great and provided a much needed coffee break late morning. Our boys and dog enjoyed spotting the wildlife during our walks. Will definitely return here.