Sheffield Halloween fun, dinosaur trail and wildlife park all at one destination

We visited The Tropical Butterfly House in North Anston last week expecting to entertain a toddler with plenty of animals.

But it turned out there’s far more to explore at this wildlife conservation park than we expected.

For dinosaur fans – especially the adult ones – this could be as close as you’ll get to experiencing a real life Jurassic Park.

Dig for bones in a special archaeological hut, make the prehistoric models roar and discover eggs in a nest on the trail, which also includes plenty of photograph opportunities.

The wildlife park, just half an hour from central Sheffield, has a vast range of animals.

We started by watching the otters nibble on fish in their waterside habitat, called in at the chipmunks and fed wriggling mealworms to the adorable meerkats which share a desert home with porcupines.

There are colourful parrots, giant tortoises and wallabies to catch a glimpse of too.

The lemurs have a gigantic playground to leap around, and you can watch the fun while roaming chickens and peacocks wander close by.

We fed goats – one greedy one actually stole the entire bag of food – too and soaked up some warmth inside the tropical butterfly section.

It was like being transported to a jungle (and after a few hours in the wind, the heat was welcome too.)

There are colourful butterflies by the dozen, and bright lorikeets lapped up our bowl of nectar with their tongues.

Turtles and fish swam in the lake underneath our feet, and there were more exotic snakes and scorpions to see.

The wildlife park currently has a number of Halloween attractions, including giant spiders in the woods and a witches’ cave, making it an ideal destination for an autumn weekend.It’s easy to spend a full day there, we didn’t even manage to squeeze in the playground or lunch at the cafe in a three hour trip.

The butterfly house has a Halloween monster hunt trail taking place throughout the October half term holidays.

There is a daily spot prize for the best Halloween fancy dress.

Find the animal hiding a special pumpkin and if you are lucky enough to find it, take it to the shop to exchange it for a prize.

For tickets and more information visit http://www.butterflyhouse.co.uk/