TreeRunners
TreeRunners
5
This location was reported permanently closed
Full view
About
Treerunners is an exciting, challenging and sometimes demanding activity that uses zip lines, snowboards and tarzan swings as well as other challenges to get you from tree to tree. Set in a beautiful oak forest, it is the perfect day out for families, birthday parties, hens, stags, first dates (or last) and school trips. You don’t have to go up with the kids! (unlike other courses). On both our Junior course and Adult course we use safety systems that make it impossible to unclip from the safety line which leaves you free to either join them or chill out with a coffee on the ground.
Contribute
Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
We perform checks on reviews.
Tripadvisor’s approach to reviews
Before posting, each Tripadvisor review goes through an automated tracking system, which collects information, answering the following questions: how, what, where and when. If the system detects something that potentially contradicts our community guidelines, the review is not published.
When the system detects a problem, a review may be automatically rejected, sent to the reviewer for validation, or manually reviewed by our team of content specialists, who work 24/7 to maintain the quality of the reviews on our site.
Our team checks each review posted on the site disputed by our community as not meeting our community guidelines.
Learn more about our review moderation.
5.0
187 reviews
Excellent
158
Very good
23
Average
4
Poor
2
Terrible
0
Navrig
Edinburgh, UK140 contributions
Jul 2012 • Family
I took my wife and two teenage kids to Tree Runners. This is a new rope works course set up in a great location. The technical setup is excellent with some great rope routes within the forest. The safety system is excellent and gives confidence when trying to do the challenging routes.
We all completed the blue and red routes with my 17yo son also doing the black.
We had great fun and would fully recommend it to everyone.
We all completed the blue and red routes with my 17yo son also doing the black.
We had great fun and would fully recommend it to everyone.
Written 13 July 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
kevindm
London, UK44 contributions
Apr 2019 • Family
We celebrated our daughter’s birthday at tree runners. Simply put, the place is just beautiful, the team is really helpful and the activity itself was really enjoyable (so says my 14yo daughter and her friends). This is the second time we’ve come here, the last time was in 2016. My daughter was 12 on our last trip and she enjoyed it then too.
It is a good place for the activities and even better when you plan for a day out. You do need to carry your food as there is not much around. The place does stock a few snacks and drinks that you can buy.
Ben is a good host and his team are really nice too.
We will definitely be coming back again.
It is a good place for the activities and even better when you plan for a day out. You do need to carry your food as there is not much around. The place does stock a few snacks and drinks that you can buy.
Ben is a good host and his team are really nice too.
We will definitely be coming back again.
Written 12 April 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
ian b
London, UK1 contribution
Aug 2012 • Family
We travelled down to Treerunners from South London as part of a father and son bonding day out. It's not that easy finding something that suits both a 12yr old and a 43 yr old. However, treerunners had us both smiling.
The site is great in the middle of the woods, yet not too far from the main road. The site feels more relaxed and informal than we're used to finding at Go Ape. The team are friendly, enthusiastic and really know their stuff. The clip in, clip out system means it's impossible to find yourself not attached to the safety wire. This means that you don't have to worry about the kids but that you also feel like you're on your own adventure rather than following a prescribed course.
The grading is simple with colours the same as ski runs and there's even a course for the younger ones who are often left out in these kind of activities. I look forward to night time activities with bonfires and head torches!
We also met the owner Ben, a real woodsman and full of energy. I wish him and the team continued success.
The site is great in the middle of the woods, yet not too far from the main road. The site feels more relaxed and informal than we're used to finding at Go Ape. The team are friendly, enthusiastic and really know their stuff. The clip in, clip out system means it's impossible to find yourself not attached to the safety wire. This means that you don't have to worry about the kids but that you also feel like you're on your own adventure rather than following a prescribed course.
The grading is simple with colours the same as ski runs and there's even a course for the younger ones who are often left out in these kind of activities. I look forward to night time activities with bonfires and head torches!
We also met the owner Ben, a real woodsman and full of energy. I wish him and the team continued success.
Written 25 September 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
357Holly357
Salisbury, UK1 contribution
Aug 2012 • Family
The staff were all very enthusiastic, fun and helpful - it's just shame that their boss didn't share the same approach.
My 6 year old child was frightened just 5 minutes in and was told by the boss that she'd have to get off as they were too busy to wait for her. I wasn't too impressed by this considering it costs £15 and there was no offer of a refund.
The boss should maybe take some customer service training from his fantastic staff.
The toilets were also absolutely disgusting!!
My 6 year old child was frightened just 5 minutes in and was told by the boss that she'd have to get off as they were too busy to wait for her. I wasn't too impressed by this considering it costs £15 and there was no offer of a refund.
The boss should maybe take some customer service training from his fantastic staff.
The toilets were also absolutely disgusting!!
Written 16 August 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Dear Holly,
Big Bad Boss here, I'm sorry you feel that way but it is unfortunately always down to me to take people off the course. I don't enjoy it but sometimes for safety, child enjoyment and operational procedure it needs to be done. Our Junior course is testing, not only for children but adults. We use a 'saferoller' system which means that they cannot come off the cable but it also means that other children cannot overtake. There is usually no problem but if one child that is clearly struggling and not enjoying it, who can't go on and needs rescuing, it can stop everyone behind them for ten to fifteen minutes. This unfortunately is not much fun for others waiting on the platforms or for the child that is struggling and wants to come down. We do refund anyone who we can take off the course by walking them back but if they go to far down the course so a member of staff has to go through the process of rescuing them, instead we offer a return visit when it is less busy and ideally with a parent on the course with them. If this was not made clear then I apologise but I do always say it when this happens.
It is difficult because we love it when people get over their fears but sometimes, if they are struggling, are too frightened to move forwards with fifteen noisy kids behind them, then there is little option especially with other parents asking us to move things along.
Regarding the loos. I absolutely agree. Trouble is we have only been open for four months and being in the middle of a forest, water supply and electricity are not at hand so instead we have redeveloped the loos in the paintball site. They are a bit further away but a long walk sometimes helps things along. We are having an opening ceremony, much like the Olympics, for the new loos on Thursday. If you would like to attend and try the course again you are more than welcome.
BEN
Written 24 August 2012
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
rarelydelighted
Southampton, UK27 contributions
Aug 2013 • Family
Tree Runners is fun for al the Family. If you have tried Go Ape! then you'll know what to expect. The safety system is different - and almost certainly idiot proof - so you won't fall off! The attraction is well hidden in the woods, and has a relaxed 'adventure' setting and feel to it. The welcome is genuine, and the delight and smiles of the people already on the routes is apparent as soon as you get out of your car. The challenges are fun, with long zip wires and interesting lay outs. BUT - what I don't understand, and is not explained, is why they put a two and half hours time limit - written in ink on your hand - and then strictly enforce this despite very clear delays from slower treerunners in front of you. Of the 4 main adult challengers we only managed 2 because the safety briefing took so long, and we were held up. For this reason - Go Ape gets my vote as better value. So, watch your watch - and perhaps try to negotiate longer when you go?
Written 26 August 2013
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Esiotrot73
London, UK1,914 contributions
Aug 2012 • Family
The actual climbing aspect of this venue is superb but they really need to try harder to develop the additional elements of this business.
Written 10 August 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Stephen B
Andover, UK36 contributions
Jun 2019 • Family
We have just spent the morning at tree runners for Father’s Day. Our eldest son (10) and I did the high course, our youngest (7) and my wife did the junior course. It’s incredibly well laid out, great fun, incredibly safe (we had a brilliant instructor called Fi) and generally a great time. The setting is stunning too in the middle of Harewood Forest, which is one of England’s oldest woodlands. This is a great day out for families - we had a picnic afterwards in the enclosed area adjacent to the courses.
Written 16 June 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
JILL T
Southampton, UK12 contributions
Aug 2017 • Family
Reading other reviews we must just have been unlucky yesterday as supervision was poor !
We had booked for my husband and four grandchildren aged 17 - 10years . Two of the older children had been before but one was still nervous ! My husband works at height so no problem there but for two it was anew experience . My daughter and I were drivers and observers.
The training was good and during this they were told ' if you get in trouble call and someone in an orange t shirt will be right with you ' .
Fine until that happened ! No one in an orange t shirt to be seen ! It was not a busy session so i would have expected more presence . The children called and called and in the end my daughter went to find someone .
After a while we went but arranged to return nearer their finish time . During our absence this happened again and to another child and in the end another member of the public had to go find someone to help them .
This marred an otherwise fun day but at £28 pp per session I would expect better supervision ! Apart from anything else it took a chunk out of the activity time just waiting and yelling .
We had booked for my husband and four grandchildren aged 17 - 10years . Two of the older children had been before but one was still nervous ! My husband works at height so no problem there but for two it was anew experience . My daughter and I were drivers and observers.
The training was good and during this they were told ' if you get in trouble call and someone in an orange t shirt will be right with you ' .
Fine until that happened ! No one in an orange t shirt to be seen ! It was not a busy session so i would have expected more presence . The children called and called and in the end my daughter went to find someone .
After a while we went but arranged to return nearer their finish time . During our absence this happened again and to another child and in the end another member of the public had to go find someone to help them .
This marred an otherwise fun day but at £28 pp per session I would expect better supervision ! Apart from anything else it took a chunk out of the activity time just waiting and yelling .
Written 1 September 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Gill C
Newbury, UK1 contribution
Apr 2017 • Family
Our eldest son had a magical 10th birthday party here in 2014 – he and his friends explored the junior courses and then the braver amongst them went onto one of the adult courses. There were no problems and a fantastic day had by all. We’ve been raving about the place ever since.
This year thought we’d do the same again for our younger son, and arranged to bring small group of mainly 10/11 year olds plus our older son (now 12) and his friend (13). There is very little guidance on the webpage regarding which courses are appropriate for which age groups so we thought we'd go with past experience. Since 2014 the courses have changed however, and it became apparent within minutes (literally 4 or 5 minutes) that the junior courses were far too easy for our boys – so we asked if we could transfer them onto the adult course. We were of course more than happy to pay the difference in price – and bizarrely had exactly the right amount of cash on us - £49.00 – to enable us do so.
Yes, the receptionist said, there was room on the adult course.
Yes, there was time to train them up.
And yes, after some debate it transpired that they were all tall enough – so far so good.
However – here comes the crunch - they could only go on the adult course if we paid £24.00 per child in addition to the £17.00 per child already paid for them to go on the junior course. And unfortunately the card machine wasn’t working, so that would be an extra £168.00 in cash, please, on top of the £119.00 already paid.
Unsurprisingly we didn’t have £168.00 in cash on us. And we didn’t think it was reasonable to pay £24.00 per child on top of the fee already paid - given that they’d only been on the junior course for 5 minutes.
There followed a protracted discussion with a perfectly pleasant but ‘sorry there is nothing I can do’ staff member. So we asked to speak with the owner - who continued to argue that the boys couldn’t switch course – but did eventually, reluctantly, concede that they could switch (seemingly when he realised that they were mostly 11 and older rather than mostly 10 - whilst making it clear that it was my fault for booking them onto the wrong course in the first place) and the boys went off to train. This all took about 15 minutes of arguing, with the birthday boy and his friends watching, and me feeling increasingly upset and disappointed.
Which brings me to my second point – the training was thorough and the staff here clearly take safety very seriously - but there was zero effort to engage the kids or to make the birthday boy feel remotely special. When he needed to go to the bathroom we had to insist that the instructor, who seemed irritated by this and was clearly desperate to finish, wait for him rather than simply sending all the other boys off onto the course and leaving our son to navigate the ropes by himself.
So in summary – the location is amazing and the ropes courses are challenging and fun BUT make sure you pick the right course for your kids and don’t expect too much from the customer service.
This year thought we’d do the same again for our younger son, and arranged to bring small group of mainly 10/11 year olds plus our older son (now 12) and his friend (13). There is very little guidance on the webpage regarding which courses are appropriate for which age groups so we thought we'd go with past experience. Since 2014 the courses have changed however, and it became apparent within minutes (literally 4 or 5 minutes) that the junior courses were far too easy for our boys – so we asked if we could transfer them onto the adult course. We were of course more than happy to pay the difference in price – and bizarrely had exactly the right amount of cash on us - £49.00 – to enable us do so.
Yes, the receptionist said, there was room on the adult course.
Yes, there was time to train them up.
And yes, after some debate it transpired that they were all tall enough – so far so good.
However – here comes the crunch - they could only go on the adult course if we paid £24.00 per child in addition to the £17.00 per child already paid for them to go on the junior course. And unfortunately the card machine wasn’t working, so that would be an extra £168.00 in cash, please, on top of the £119.00 already paid.
Unsurprisingly we didn’t have £168.00 in cash on us. And we didn’t think it was reasonable to pay £24.00 per child on top of the fee already paid - given that they’d only been on the junior course for 5 minutes.
There followed a protracted discussion with a perfectly pleasant but ‘sorry there is nothing I can do’ staff member. So we asked to speak with the owner - who continued to argue that the boys couldn’t switch course – but did eventually, reluctantly, concede that they could switch (seemingly when he realised that they were mostly 11 and older rather than mostly 10 - whilst making it clear that it was my fault for booking them onto the wrong course in the first place) and the boys went off to train. This all took about 15 minutes of arguing, with the birthday boy and his friends watching, and me feeling increasingly upset and disappointed.
Which brings me to my second point – the training was thorough and the staff here clearly take safety very seriously - but there was zero effort to engage the kids or to make the birthday boy feel remotely special. When he needed to go to the bathroom we had to insist that the instructor, who seemed irritated by this and was clearly desperate to finish, wait for him rather than simply sending all the other boys off onto the course and leaving our son to navigate the ropes by himself.
So in summary – the location is amazing and the ropes courses are challenging and fun BUT make sure you pick the right course for your kids and don’t expect too much from the customer service.
Written 23 April 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hi Gilly
The first I heard about this was from my receptionist who said that there was someone who was angry that her group had wasted their time on the Junior course and that she was saying it was our fault as our website had instructed her to book the easy course and not the Adult one.
When I came up to you, you were clearly not happy because you were being asked to pay the full price for the adult course and that you only booked the Junior course because our website had told you to do so and that so far it had all been a complete waste of time.
In two minutes I told my staff to put your group on the adult course and to only pay the difference.
In response to your remarks on the day and in writing here.
Your email says that there is very little guidance on the website. This is what our website says….
BIRTHDAY PARTIES FOR 10 YEAR OLDS!
On average we find that with a group of ten x 10 years olds, two or three will find the Adult course too hard and so will have to be put on the Junior course (if space available). We would therefore recommend that if you have a large group of ten year olds that you book them on the Junior course as more often than not after training we will have to put some of them on this course anyway. This can rather spoil the day for boys this age. If you are happy to risk two of the 10 x ten year old boys being put on the Junior course then please don't get upset with us if it happens. We will still give them 2.5 hours but you will not be refunded the difference. Girls tend to be much more mature and happily take the easier option.
WHAT ARE YOU AGE, HEIGHT AND WEIGHT RESTRICTIONS?
Junior course: 6 yrs old and upwards AND min height 1.10m (yes both). Yes parents can go up with them.
Adult course: 10 yrs old and upwards AND min height 1.40m (yes both).
Your group was 1 thirteen year old, 1 twelve year old, 3 eleven year olds and only 1 ten year old.
Along with the above guidance you mention that you had been on the Junior course back in 2014 and so from past experience you thought you would book the Junior course again for your group. You then say…
‘Since 2014 the courses have changed however and it became apparent within minutes that the Junior courses were far too easy for our boys.’
This implies that the old Junior course was harder than the one we have now. This is not the case. Our new one is much harder, it is a metre higher, the platforms smaller and the height of the cable for the trolley is 50cms higher which means they can’t cheat as much by holding the trolley. The course is also twice as long.
Unfortunately we cannot operate with people being able to go from the Junior course to the Adult course while paying only for the price of one course as this means no one would be able to access the Junior course harnesses on the booking system so in effect they would be taking up the space of two people. If someone books 6 x Junior harnesses they are taken off the booking system so no one can use them. It also makes the most critical part of our job that much more difficult i.e. harnessing. Our aim is to harness customers as few times as possible. If people thought they could go from one course to the next without paying full price then people would increasingly start to do this and for us this would be almost impossible to manage as people would start to go back and forth between courses and this would require multiple re-harnessing and therefore compromises our safety policy.
Yes I did indeed say that they had been booked on the wrong course, but this was in response to being told it was our fault quite a few times. I then very quickly told my staff to harness your kids up on the adult course and pay only the difference as it was clear by their ages that they should be on the adult course.
I’m not sure how long my receptionist spoke to you but I know when I spoke to you it was no more than two minutes as I was aware that the 3pm Adult course booking were just about to go and I was keen to get your group up with them as it was the last training session.
The fifteen minutes you refer to I would suspect include waiting for the last of the group to finish the Junior course, talking to the receptionist, rounding the group up, speaking to me, getting them out of their harnesses, then getting them into the Adult course harnesses and then paying.
Your group started at 2.30pm and were not all down until about 2.50pm (20 minutes) as they were too late by the time we had taken all their harnesses off and re harnessed them to join the 3pm Adult group.
You should also be aware that the adult group of 11 asked us not to include your group in their training. They felt they would slow them up so we opened up an extra training session 15 minutes after the last one of the day to accommodate your group.
I don’t understand your comments on the training of the group but I do know that half way through the training one of your group said they wanted to go to the loo. Our instructor simply couldn’t send all the boys onto the course and leave your son to navigate the ropes by himself as you say, because they were still only half-way through training and were waiting for the adult group ahead of them to finish the low level training course which they had yet to complete. By the time the boy arrived back they were still waiting for the last of the adults to vacate the training ladders so no one was going anywhere let alone up in the trees.
Sorry to hear that you felt your son wasn’t made special. Birthday boys are important to us and if he wants to come back here again just get him to ask for the Boss and we will ensure he does.
Written 4 May 2017
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Sharon B
Hampshire, UK49 contributions
May 2015 • Friends
I took my daughter and her two friends to TreeRunners as a treat for her 15th birthday. The staff were brilliant, they explained clearly exactly how the clips on the harnesses worked and offered encouragement when it was needed. The woodland setting is perfect for the activities and we were lucky to have good weather, although I think they still would have had a good time even if it was raining. It is good for all ages because there is a children's course for the under 10's and differing ability courses for the adults. My daughters group started on the easy course and then had plenty of time to go on one of the more difficult courses. I think it was her best party ever. Everybody thoroughly enjoyed themselves, overcame fears and probably came away more confident of their own abilities. The left tired out and one even fell asleep in the car on the way home! Would highly recommend and will probably return in summer holidays.
Written 1 June 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hi, are you able to bring a dog on to site?
Thanks
Nicky
Written 24 July 2018
Hi Nicky, you can bring your dog, but they must be on a lead. Loads of info in our FAQs on the website
Written 1 August 2018
Hi, there are two courses. One goes up to 4.5 metres high and the other 5.5. You can find out more and see videos on the website. The Saferoller system means you can't come off.
Written 25 March 2017
Hi Jacquelin, essentially the adults course is tougher and higher, with more elements and ziplines.
You need to be minimum of 10 years old and 1.4 metres tall. The harnesses are also different. The kids course uses a 'Saferoller' system which means you are always connected to the wire. The adults course uses a twin safety line system, which you clip and unclip, which means you always have one clipped on. The FAQs on the website covers a lot of this.
Written 8 August 2016
Hi, you get 2.5 hours for the adults' courses and 1.5 hours for the kids' courses
Written 22 September 2015
K2521JIjohn
Portsmouth, United Kingdom
how long does it take to get round the course
Written 22 September 2015
Hi, the junior course takes around 1.5 hours and the adult course 2.5 hours. Lots more info on their FAQ page if you go to the website.
Written 5 October 2015
Showing results 1-8 of 8