Broomhouse Farm | A Dog Friendly Day Out in Durham

This post is based on a visit to Broom House Farm in June 2021 and first appeared on North East Family Fun.  Please check details with venue direct before setting off and things may have changed since this post was published.  

Lots of readers have recommended Broom House Farm Forest Adventure to us and I am so pleased we finally made the trip. We visited on an overcast Sunday afternoon in June.

This trip involved myself, Jack (10), my brother and nephew Evan (5). I wish I had brought Dee along too as this kind of thing is right up their street. There were lots of toddlers enjoying themselves and some older kids too - I would recommend for ages 2-12 and I imagine some teens will enjoy it too if they are accompanying younger siblings. 
Dogs on leads are welcome at Broomhouse Farm including inside the coffee shop, in the outdoor seating area, in the picnic field and across the Broomhouse Farm Forest adventure. During our visit, there were a fair few dogs enjoying watching their families having fun in the Forest Adventure and in the coffee shop afterwards too. It can get muddy in the forest so bring a towel for dirty paws. 

You can visit Broomhouse Farm without booking the Forest Adventure - the tearoom is a lovely spot with lots of space for kids to run around. You don't need to book to visit the tearoom and there is ample seating. 

However we did want to book the Forest Adventure. We booked in advance online. At the moment, Forest Adventure is open every Saturday and Sunday from 10am - 4pm. Booking opens the Thursday before.  

On the day, you are welcome to come and go as you please at any time during opening hours which is great if the weather is changeable and I loved not being tied down to a specific time slot. It is £5.95 per person (including adults) with under 2s going free and under 17s need to be accompanied by an adult. At first I did kind of think it sounded a bit expensive for what is essentially an adventure playground but now that I have visited, I definitely think it is worth the entrance fee. Dogs are free. 

We spent a couple of hours at Broom House Forest Adventure but did miss a few things out as the kids were getting tired. It would be easy to spend a full day here if your kids love adventures.

It is muddy and I would recommend putting puddle suits / waterproof trousers over the kids' clothes if you have them. Or pack a change of clothes in the car. I would recommend shoes with good grips if it's been raining. Lots of kids were wearing wellies and seemed to be managing ok too. 

Broom House Farm is located off A167 between Chester-le-Street and Durham. It has a large free car park and good facilities on site including a designated picnic area, a tea room with indoor and outdoor seating (plus outdoor play equipment for kids), a farm shop and farmyard animals. There are customer toilets available to use in the tea room and plenty of hand sanitiser around.  

Once we had parked up, we popped over to the dedicated check in desk where a lovely member of staff provided us with a sticker, map and a couple of trails to try. I will be honest, we didn't try the trails as the boys were having too much fun. 

Once we had checked in, we ventured over to the Forest Adventure Trail. We met the Forest Ranger who went through a few rules with us (no eating or drinking inside the forest / make sure you go to the loo beforehand / social distance and stick with your group etc......). The staff were really lovely and it was good to know they were on hand should we need them. 

Our first impressions were that it was a lot bigger than expected and loads to see and do. You are surrounded by nature too and there are lots of opportunities to connect with wildlife. There are a fair few little tasks attached to trees as you walk around (eg pop a stick in the wishing tree and make a wish / build a den / look up and spot the squirrels).  There are several woodland hides too and I am so happy that we spotted a woodpecker. I've never seen one in the wild before! 

There is no one way system in operation and you just kind of make your way around the forest. You can loop around / go back to bits you enjoyed / leave for lunch and come back again.....It's all fairly relaxed. 

I would say it is not really suitable for pushchairs - the paths are muddy and uneven in places. However Broom House Farm do say that most of the paths are suitable for pushchairs and wheelchairs (the off road type) so they are obviously are permitted so I guess it's up to you. Bring something with you to clean the wheels if you do bring your wheels. 

Dogs on leads are welcome! 

As you walk around the forest there are different sections with activities. They are not compulsory so for example you could let the kids go over a rope bridge as you wait at the bottom if that makes sense. No climbing is required if you don't wish to. 

The kids' favourite section was definitely the Toboggan - it actually builds up some speed! It wasn't too busy on the day of our visit and sometimes we had the toboggan to ourselves / other times we were taking it in turns with another family. There were no real queues for anything. 

The boys also loved the rope swings. There are tunnels to climb through, beams to balance on, bridges to cross......lots of good fun. Adult supervision is required at all times, it's not the kind of place you would set up a base and let the kids run off on their own. 

There are a couple of family challenges in the forest too. We loved this one where you had to throw balls and hit the targets. Sometimes the simplest of games are the best. 

Like I say, we spent a couple of hours in the Forest Adventure. I would recommend from ages 2-12 and some teens would like it too if they were with younger siblings (I wouldn't recommend as a day out just for teens on their own). We could have easily spent longer there though and did think it was really good value for money. 

After our Forest Adventure we were all tired and in need of refreshments. Luckily, there is a fabulous tea room on site which overlooks a huge field and play equipment for kids (a small slide and swing / climbing frame ,  hay bales and play castle). 

The food was such good value and I would go as far as to say that my sausage sandwich was the best sausage sandwich I'd ever had. Proper good quality sausages. Everything was really reasonable and service was nice and quick too (order at the counter).  Kids meals are well priced too. There are no bookings at the moment but there were plenty of seats on the day of our visit. 

You can visit the Tea Room without visiting the Forest Adventure or vice versa. 

If you are viewing this on a mobile, click on the menus below to zoom in. 

Broom House Farm also offer a picnic field next to the car park where you can bring your own picnic or even a BBQ (following safety guidance of course). What a lovely facility for the farm to provide! 

Next to the car park you will also find a small farmyard which is free to visit. You cannot feed or pet the animals but you will see pigs, goats, chickens, sheep and cows in the barns and surrounding fields. Worth a little visit before heading home. You don't need to book or anything, just pop in. 

There is a farm shop on site but it is closed on Sundays. Gutted! I bet it's fab too. 

I spotted on the Broom House website that you can book a children's party there. How fantastic! My three would have loved that when they were a little younger. 

Top Tips For Visiting Broom House Forest Adventure 

• Pre-book tickets online (flexible arrival time) 
• There are no loos in the forest so make sure you visit the toilets in the Tea Room before heading in 
• Picnics are permitted in the picnic field but I 100% recommend the Tea Room 
• No eating or drinking in the forest 
• Put kids in a puddle suit / waterproof trousers or bring a change of clothes 
• Pushchairs are permitted but I recommend leaving at home if you can 
• Dogs welcome on leads 
• You can come and go as you please throughout the day. If this is your first visit, I would suggest you need at least 2 hours
• Bring wipes - hands will get muddy 
• Wear sturdy shoes

We thoroughly enjoyed our day and would 100% recommend as a family day out. Find out more and book online here:  https://www.broomhousedurham.co.uk/

Looking for other dog-friendly days out? Check out these posts: 

30+ Places to take your dog (tried and tested by readers)

50+ Dog-friendly days out across North East England

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