We have wanted to visit the Wild Place Project in Bristol for some time, so during our holiday to Somerset, we planned a trip to see Kian and take the kids there for a day out.

The Wild Place Project is a wildlife conservation park in South Gloucestershire, United Kingdom, which is run by the Bristol Zoological Society and is the sister site of Bristol Zoo.

It is not your typical zoo, however, although it does showcase wildlife from the UK and around the world including bears, giraffes, cheetahs, lemurs and more.

We started our visit with their Leap of Faith outdoor climbing adventure experience.

The Leap of Faith experience takes 40 minutes, which includes the safety briefing and getting into the safety gear.

There are lots of amazing climbing challenges such as the rope race, the bear climbing wall, a high wire ladder, a 25ft high ‘hang tough’ challenge and a totem pole, all of which the my husband and the kids got stuck into, encouraged by the fabulous staff.

The final challenge of the day was the Giant Swing, where you are strapped into a paragliding harnesses then winched up to 25ft in the air and let go.

My husband and Kian went first and then it was Isaac and Eliza’s turn. The staff were brilliantly encouraging and after a few tears from Eliza, she was soon squealing with delight as she swung through the air.

As we finished at Leap of Faith, the heaven’s opened, so we warmed up with a hot chocolate from the cafe as the shower passed before exploring the rest of the park.

The Wildplace Project is all outdoors with very little shelter, so if you do visit after a spell of wet weather, make sure you wear your waterproofs and wellies as it is very muddy in places.

The exhibit we really wanted to see was Bear Wood, which tells the story of our British woodland from 8000 BC to present day.

You start your journey by entering a ‘time chamber’, where they rewind the clock back to 8000 BC.

You then walk through the beautiful ancient woodland on raised wooden walkways, learning all about the trees that surround you and four incredible ‘extinct’, British species – bears, wolves, lynxes and wolverines.

We were disappointed to find that the interactive displays and play areas were closed to ‘avoid unnecessary touch points’, as other places we have visited have had their’s open, but do understand the reasons.

Seeing these animals in their natural habitat was a real treat though and we were surprised to find that the bears and the wolves roamed together.

What really struck me about the Wild Place Project was just how big it was.

We spent a good four hours exploring the park and all its animals. I can imagine it would be the perfect place to take a picnic and make a real day of it in the spring / summer.

Entry to Wildplace Project is £13.06 for adults and £10.45 for children age 2-14. Leap of Faith is an added extra at £10 per person for the climbing activities or £14 per person if you add in the Giant Swing.

We will definitely visit again when we are next in Bristol.

Have you visited Wild Place Project before?

• bear wood
• bristol zoo
• climbing wall
• giant swing
• leap of faith
• Visit Bristol
• visit Somerset
• wild place project
• wolf
• wolverine