Walking in the New Forest: 30 Walks in the New Forest National Park

- Blurb -

The New Forest is a unique landscape of open heath and ancient woodland tucked into south-west Hampshire and south-east Wiltshire. To many, a key feature is the ancient and ornamental woods, and here can be found the greatest concentration of 'veteran' trees in western Europe. However, there is much more on offer, including 42km (26 miles) of coastline, the largest area of lowland heath in Britain and three-quarters of the valley mires in north-west Europe, as well as picture-postcard thatched cottages, ancient churches and cosy pubs. The area is also an animal lover's paradise, providing natural habitat to many types of wildlife including deer, all six of Britain's native reptiles and the New Forest's very own species of pony. Around 7000 commoner's animals graze the open forest, one-quarter of the park is farmland and the forests still produce many tonnes of timber per year. And all this located within Britain's smallest national park, within easy reach of Southampton, Bournemouth and Salisbury. This guidebook offers 30 easy day walks, right across the New Forest National Park, easily combinable into longer routes for greater challenges, through woodland, heath and along the coast, all illustrated with large-scale OS map extracts and vibrant colour photographs.