Gosford Forest Park – Iconic Play

The Challenge

To develop Ireland’s greatest forest adventure play trail!

The Play Trail will provide an ‘iconic, stand-out’, visitor attraction and signature experience for the primary market – families. Located along a 1km walk trail a range of bespoke structures will be designed and themed on the unique heritage features and stories of the historic Gosford Demesne. The play structures will be located within easily found as well as obscured areas of the woodland encouraging families and children to explore and push beyond the normal confines of a basic ‘walk in the woods’.

In addition to their unique design, the structures themselves will be larger in scale and size than any other play structure seen in Ireland, more akin to the ‘Forgotten Giants’ of Copenhagan, the ‘House of Baba Yaga’ in Moors Valley or the ‘Timberland Trail’ in Alice Holt Forest, thus transforming Gosford into ‘Ireland’s Greatest Forest Adventure Play Trail’.

The structures will not be ‘catalogue’ pieces but will be designed bespoke and built using predominantly natural materials such as timber and rope to ensure the pieces sit naturally and sympathetically in the forest environment. They will be designed to offer maximum play value and challenge for children of multiple age ranges from 0-14 years and to be all inclusive to ensure that it caters to those with disabilities.

This project is an output of a Service Level Agreement with Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council.