Aden Country Park – a Play Area in the Trees and Ducks
A few hours.
The route
Aden Country Park, on the edge of Mintlaw in the middle of Buchan, has a big, well-kept play area set among the trees.
There's a castle to climb, a double zip slide, swings and a whole toddler corner, and down at the lake there are ducks to feed. With a café in the old farm courtyard, it's an easy morning out with small children.
Before you go
Book accommodation nearby
If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.
The day
Mintlaw
A long play among the trees, a bag of duck food from the shop and a wander down to the lake, then a hot chocolate in the courtyard café.
About three hours
Aden Country Park
A walk
Aden Country Park is open every day, with no charge to come in. There are four car parks, and the two big ones beside the courtyard are best, with toilets and accessible bays. The play area sits among the trees, with a castle in the middle, a double zip slide and a jungle dome for older children. The youngest have a toddler unit, a farm-animal seesaw, a big bird-nest swing and an accessible roundabout. The Craft and Gift Shop in the courtyard sells duck food for the ducks on the lake, and it opens from 11am to 3pm every day except Thursday. The Aden Café in the courtyard does soup, light lunches and home baking. In summer it opens every day, and in winter Wednesday to Sunday from 10am to 3.30pm; check the café's hours before a Monday or Tuesday visit. In winter the café and the shop are both open on Wednesdays, Fridays and at weekends. Until 26 October the free Aberdeenshire Farming Museum beside it opens Thursday to Sunday, 11am to 4pm. The toilets by the main car park have baby changing and a Changing Places toilet, and in winter they close at 4pm. Dogs are welcome in the park and on the café's ground floor. Over Christmas and New Year, check before going.
If it rains
Most of it is outdoors. In rain, keep the play area short and go in to the café (Wednesday to Sunday in winter), or to the Farming Museum until 26 October.
Make it a weekend
More days out in Aberdeenshire.
Photograph by Jerry Cobb via Google