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The park has a decent sized car park just off Gore Road, near Darenth Valley Hospital. And parking is free.
It's a beautiful area with a mix of gravelled paths, woodland and large dog walking flat areas, almost like a recreation ground. Lots of parts to explore and plenty of areas for dogs to enjoy. A variety of surfaced and unsurfaced paths (including cycle routes) criss-cross the site.
No water here
Poo bins located throughout the park.
Some interesting facts about this park. Darenth Country Park was opened as part of the Millennium celebrations, but this new site has strong links to the past. Located on the edge of the North Downs, above the Darenth Valley, there are some beautiful views of the surrounding countryside. The area was used as an ancient Saxon burial ground, with 12 Saxon graves having been discovered at the site, as well as artefacts from the period. The park now features a number of new additions to go with the history preserved here. The Chapel Orchard boasts over 150 varieties of apple, pear, plum, cherry and cob nut trees. There’s a play area for kids and a picnic area is available, adjacent to the car park.
As usual, Maple always leads the walks, and as soon we arrived, she managed to walk straight to the entrance gates to the park. We went on a Saturday, around lunchtime, and it was not busy at all. We could see a few other families and dogs along the way, but nothing major that could turn into a big distraction for Maple. Most of the routes you can let your dog go off lead, the only areas where dogs are required to be on lead, are the riding horses routes. But for the whole period we were there, we did not come across any horses.
The park offers a good balance between open fields, where dogs can run and play, and woodland trails. So there is a bit of everything and certainly will suit all dogs. The paths were wide and clean, easy to navigate, and very pleasant. But, it was a quite warm day, and Maple is not a big fan of the heat, so she struggled a bit as there are not many shaded areas in the open fields.
Apart from that, the park is a great destination to take your dog for daily walks or longer walks on the weekends.
