Coate Water Country Park is located on the outskirts of Swindon. A new place for us to explore, just 40 mins away. Well, it should have been, if we hadn’t got lost.
Coate Water was built in the 1820’s. It is home to a large lake, woodland, nature reserve, miniature railway, golf, a splash park, play area, cafe and toilets.
We visited at the end of the summer holidays with friends. It was not easy to find, with very few signs, but we got there in the end. Parking was very reasonable, just £2 for 24 hours.
First stop for us was the play park. This was quite old and quite small compared to lots of other country parks we’ve visited. However, the children enjoyed playing.
Walk around the lake at Coate Water
The lake is not the prettiest we’ve been to, but it is a good size to walk around and with the woodland in addition to the lake, it made a lovely walk. The children had a great time running on ahead.
There were lots of walkways round the edge of the lake so the kids loved sitting on them, peering into the water to see what they could see. They delighted in watching all the water boatmen.
My favourite part to the lake walk, was an area lined with trees which appeared to make an arch. It was beautiful. I would love to see it again in autumn with wonderful golden colours. Although, there were already lots of leaves on the floor and the kids had a great time throwing them up.
Splash Park
After a long walk around the lake, we had worked up an appetite. We took our picnic to the splash park area. Of course, as soon as the picnic was eaten, the kids had changed into their swimwear and headed straight for the water.
It was rather busy and I think our children felt a little intimidated by the other children. They waited very, very patiently to get a go on one of the water shooting things. It took them quite a while to warm up to the fun of a splash park, but they did in the end.
It is not the best splash park we’ve seen, but it was good fun and had lots of grassed open space for us parents to sit and watch.
We had a lovely day at Coate Water Country Park, especially sharing it with friends. It’s not the finest Country Park, but a fantastic place to visit if you’re not too far.
We often go to Swindon to use the Oasis pool and Better Extreme so will bear this in mind next time we are over.
We used to go Coate a lot as a kid as we’re not far away. Lydiard Park is another place near Swindon if want to venture that way again.
I’m going to have to try this for ourselves I think. We’re always looking for a midway point to meet up with friends – this looks perfect.
This looks lovely and for £2 all day you really can’t go wrong. The woodland walk is a good addition to the lake and I’m sure adds nice variety and interest to your visit.
Such a lovely place to visit with kids and very reasonable in the pocket too (that parking fee is awesome!).