An award-winning outdoor family attraction near Exeter which has been enjoyed by thousands of visitors has announced its permanent closure.
For the past eight years, The Bear Trail has provided families with a fun, muddy assault course with lots of obstacles, including a big mud slide, bear nets and zip wire. The chance to get covered in mud while scrambling through the obstacles has provided a welcome change from most days out.
The Bear Group, which owns the Bear Trail, has confirmed it has made the ‘sad’ decision to close it and instead focus on expanding its award-winning Bear Town indoor role play centres nationwide. It currently has on the same site as The Bear Trail and also one in London located within Birchen Grove Garden Centre in Kingsbury.
Managing director Ben Jordan told DevonLive that also in the pipeline is the possibility of opening a 400 sq m bouldering centre called Bear Claws on its Westcott site, near Cullompton. In 2022, The Bear Group, which owns the Bear Trail near Cullompton, submitted expansion plans for its site at Westcott.
Cullompton Bear Trail
It included creating new entrance facilities, office building, business units, car park, new vehicular access and associated landscaping works. Concerns were raised by the council and the application was later withdrawn. A revised scheme was refused in January 2024 with planners stating the development was not suitable for the area of the site proposed.
However, its plans for the bouldering centre were approved.
Giving an insight into the future of The Bear Group, Ben said: “The aim is to grow the number of Bear Towns so that’s what we’re working on at the moment. The Bear Trail has obviously been here for eight years and it is built of wood so we were looking at having to completely redo it and make it bigger and better.
“Our focus needs to be on the Bear Towns. It’s really, really sad as I have put my heart and soul into The Bear Trail. Families have commented saying how much they love it and it provides what people need which is going outside and playing in the mud.
(Image: TripAdvisor)
“Unfortunately, it is quite a challenging market. It has been a really tough decision to make, especially as it has won lots of awards. Only the other day, our colour bomb event won the best event in Devon in the 2024 Devon Tourism Awards.
“Hopefully families will be able to go out to Haldon and other amazing places to enjoy outdoor fun.”
What will become on the land The Bear Trail was built on at Westcott is yet to be decided.
Ben said: “We’re not sure what will happen to the land, but we will be utilising it. We recently got planning permission for a bouldering centre but after we put the plans in, we have heard a big one was opening in the middle of Exeter on the site of the former Fitness First gym.
“We are waiting to see how the Exeter one goes. At least we have got planning permission for it. The plan would be to knock down some old sheds at Wescott.”
In the meantime, Ben says Bear Towns will be its main emphasis and thanked all those who have supported The Bear Trail.
Bear Town in Cullompton
(Image: Bear Town)
He said: “We are really grateful for the support that Exeter and the business community has given us, as well as the schools. It will be really sad to see The Bear Trail go.”
A message announcing the closure has been put on the homepage of The Bear Trail website.
It states: “The Bear Trail journey has now come to an end, and what an amazing eight years it has been! Over 250,000 of you have joined us to enjoy the mud, laughter, and create unforgettable muddy memories.
“We’re so proud of everything we’ve achieved from receiving over 10 awards, to seeing families reconnect in the great outdoors. While we say goodbye to The Bear Trail, we’re focusing on the exciting nationwide expansion of Bear Town, our award-winning indoor role play centres, for children aged one to seven years.
“With the successful launch in London in October 2024, we’re looking forward to bringing even more role-play fun to families across the UK. A heartfelt thank you to our amazing team and each of our visitors who made this journey so special.
“Keep playing, laughing and always remember mud washes off but memories last forever.”