Cardinham Woods

3rd Sept 2013. We visited Cardinham today and it was very much worth it. A lovely sunny walk in the forest with a river at various points for the dogs to play in which must have been a welcome relief for them from the warmth of the day. A few points to ponder for you though. The cafe is a bit expensive at just over £10 for 2 coffees and 2 slices of cake and I believe it is cash only. Having said that, the parking charge is very reasonable at £2 for 2 hours or £3 for all day. We combined 3 of the 4 available walking trails into one extended walk which altogether took a little over 2 hours at a fairly moderate pace and included a 15 minute sit-down part way round for a picnic lunch. All walks start on the Lady Vale trail which is nice and easy and very flat. We branched off that onto the Lidcutt Valley trail which starts with a fairly strenuous ascent up the side of a valley - definitely NOT wheelchair friendly. Once at the top it is a nice gentle stroll around the edge of the valley before descending and rejoining the original path. Very soon after we branched off again onto the Wheal Glynn trail which had an even steeper climb than the previous one but again flattened out and gently descended back onto the Lady Vale trail near its end back at the car park. We have 2 lively springers and they enjoyed being able to play in the water (Mostly on the Lady Vale sections) as well as being able to root around in the undergrowth of the forest itself. All of the tracks were well maintained and defined and a very enjoyable walk, although if and when we go back we probably wouldn't do the Wheal Glynn part again as the climb is so steep but with no reward at the top like a stunning view, just the path meandering back down again, so for us that didn't really add anything for all the puffing and panting! An excellent walk for dogs and people alike, we would definitely recommend this but just be careful of those hills!

Amazing walk .beautiful forest with river all around. So much fun for my doggy

I wish we had a forest like this in London

Great place, well managed. Could easily spend hours here. Dog wash at the end too.