We are so fortunate to have the New Forest National Park on our doorstep in Hampshire with a wide range of family friendly walks available, from shorter circular routes to longer routes to get out and about for a full day trip.

Here’s 12 walks we recommend you check out based on trips we have headed out on, in no particular order!

👉 Want to make it a weekend walking around the New Forest? Check these highly-rated accommodation options.

1. Ober Water / Whitehill Moor

Ober Water is a picturesque stream located in the heart of the New Forest, flowing through its rich woodlands and open heathlands. 🐴🌲

There are two circular walks here with the slightly shorter one being perfect for families. ✅ Following gravel tracks through a variety of habitats around the popular Ober Water including heathlands with gorse and bog, grassland, natural and formerly enclosed woodland, and the Ober Water steam itself. It’s the perfect walk to relax and discover some of the amazing nature that the New Forest has to offer.

In September it’s a particularly beautiful time of year as the purple heather carpets the open heathland and there’s lots of blackberry bushes to enjoy some picking for a crumble.

🚗 You can park up at Whitefield Moor car park for free which also has the added benefit of having public loos open during the daytime and also some handy information boards on the area and forest in general.

📍Whitefield Moor car park, SO42 7QD

This is one of the many walks you can try in the forest with the free walking routes app by New Forest National Park Authority which you can find here – https://www.newforestnpa.gov.uk/…/free-walking-routes-app/

2. Ashlett Creek

Another great walk is on the outskirts of the New Forest with the 3 mile Ashlett Creek walk. It is an attractive little harbour by Fawley overlooking Southampton water and takes you on country lanes, past a 19th century tidal mill and coastal paths with a contrasting landscape of industry and wildlife. 🦋🏞️

We were pretty amazed at all the sights on offer, it’s perfect for families with young children and for a picnic on the beach with skimming some stones! Bookmark this one in your diary for sure!

A family friendly walk in Ashlett Creek, Hampshire 💚

This family-friendly walk has views of Southampton Water and the Solent, fascinating history on route, and a pebble beach to explore. We took these pics back in 2020.

We came across the route on the free app ‘New Forest Walks’which has a selection of varied walks across the national park to enjoy. At nearly three miles, this walk is especially good for families with young children as there is a diversity of things to see on route.

From Fawley village centre the trail takes you down a pretty country lane with views over Southampton Water, all the way to the historic inlet of Ashlett Creek; trailing past the Jolly Sailor pub and 19th century tidal mill, the path then follows the coast through a striking landscape where industry and wildlife meet.

Adventure Awaits

We parked at the Jubilee Hall Car Park in Fawley village centre, but there is also the option to take the bus as the stop is right on the town square. From there, you go past the Falcon Inn and onto Ashlett Road which is a country lane that gently dips down to the creek. As you walk downhill you can see across Southampton Water to the busy marine terminal. One of the most regular spots is the Isle of Wight ferries which transport locals and tourists alike from Southampton to Cowes and back.

Fawley Green and Power Station

Further along the waterfront is a gate into Fawley Green. This is where the fascinating contrast between nature and industry becomes striking. On the forefront: Fawley Green which is grazed by New Forest ponies. In the background was once Fawley’s Power Station and its chimney, which once dominated the skyline, is no longer part of the picture. This element of the walk almost feels post-apocalyptic.

From Sci-Fi to Fantasy

Continuing along the trail leads through a woodland area, where the little ones were enchanted after spotting multiple fairy doors. Nestled at the bottom of a tree, the tiny red door suggested a secret world inhabited by fairies and other magical beings. With the bonus of having butterflies flying around, they came away feeling as if they’d picked up a bit of the fairy dust themselves.

Swing bridge and Calshot Marshes

Moving on, we came across a swing bridge with a metal safety cage. Although it was shut for a while, it has now reopened. Crossing the swing bridge via the gates and continuing along the track leads into Calshot Marshes Nature Reserve. This section of path is tidal, but there is a higher path through grass on the right for you to use if the tide is high.

Tidal pond

Continue along the edge of the marshes to the road where the path ends at a nature reserve sign and a tidal pond. Luckily, we went out on a sunny day, but we suspect this section of the walk could be very muddy in wet weather.

Beach Stop

Just beyond are colourful beach huts. Looking out from the gravel beach there are panoramic views of the Solent and the Isle of Wight. On a clear day you should even be able to spot the Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth! Although there is a café nearby, we opted for a light picnic on the beach, which ended in a stone-skimming competition.

The Schneider Trophy

Some historical elements of the walk really stand out, like Calshot Castle. Some are a little more discreet. Eagle-eyed walkers might have spotted a mural of a seaplane on the side of a building by the activities centre, commemorating the 1931 Schneider Trophy. The recurring seacraft contest, which was held in Calshot that year, and won by the Great Britain team, after 18 years of fierce competition.

The New Forest coast alongside Southampton Water and the Solent is a wonderful place to visit on foot. This area has so much to offer walkers, wildlife enthusiasts and anyone who simply wants to enjoy fresh air and sea breezes.

But it’s easy to overlook the history and heritage associated with this coast, evidence of which often remains visible but is largely unappreciated. Yet, from soldiers to seaplanes, smugglers to salt-men, and sailors to shipwrecks, the New Forest coast has many fascinating tales to tell. But we’ll let you discover some of it yourself…

📍 Jubilee Hall Car Park, SO45 1DF

If you want to know more about this stunning walk, check out this complete guide!

Fancy seeing a bit more of this walk, check out this video from our channel!

3. Lymington Marshes

A 7k family walking route at Lymington marshes is a brilliant circular walk with plenty on route for kids to keep entertained and enjoy! ☀️🌊

☕️🥐 We grabbed coffee and pastries from the Saturday market and one of the many pasty shops on the high street and sat in the sunshine on the quayside. We also enjoyed a 50p ‘baby cone’ from our fave ice cream takeaway spot at the bottom of the cobbled st towards the quayside.

You can walk along the Quayside for river views followed by the coastal marshes of the Lymington-Keyhaven Nature Reserve which is a must do!

⏱️ we took a leisurely pace with plenty of stops and it took us around 3 hours.

📍Start/finish: Lymington Town Railway Station, SO41 9AU or one of the many car parks around the centre, we parked in the one by marks and Spencer’s

✅Distance: Around 4 miles or 6-7k

✅Local facilities: Public toilets in Lymington, near St Barbe Museum. Train and bus transport to start of walk

✅Accessibility: Easy walk along level ground

✅More info available here

Fancy seeing a bit more of this walk, check out this video from our channel!

4. Blackwater Arboretum

The Tall Trees trail at Blackwater Arboretum, New Forest, Hampshire 🌲

One of our fave short family walks in the forest. This great adventure for families has some of the tallest pine trees in the UK and the kids love gazing up at them dominating the skyline! You can walk past majestic conifers planted in the 1850s, some of the oldest Douglas fir trees in Britain and includes views of two enormous redwoods.

👶There are a variety of routes including a short 1 mile which is friendly for buggies and wheelchairs etc.

🚾 There’s a public toilet in the car park

🧺 There are so many picnic tables both next to the car park and also scattered all over the trail with some stunning views and settings.

🅿️Make sure you park in designated car parks like the one at SO42 7QB and not on verges.

You can find more info on the Visit the New Forest website here – https://www.thenewforest.co.uk/…/blackwater…/84963101/

5. Godshill / Castle Hill / Frankenbury Hill Fort

This is a brilliant summer day out for kids to have a great adventure! Streams to splash in, bridges to cross, wildlife to spot, we spotted cows, horses, donkeys, goats and wild deer on route, wild woodlands, amazing views over the Avon valley, wild blackberries to munch, open fields, over stiles, Iced coffee from chapel field campsite at the start and an ice cream for fighting cocks pub to finish.

🧺 we took a picnic and enjoyed lunch by a little stream, one of the many streams running off the river Avon. We took a slight detour off main route to explore some of the bridges crossing the streams.

This family friendly walk is a great adventure for kids, lots of wildlife, streams, forests and the bluebells are starting to appear at this time of year. With horses, donkeys and cows roaming around its a captivating walk for all the family which we love and will sure to do again.

You can find the whole route with gps on the free ‘new Forest walks’ app. 📲

📍SP62LN for free car park we normally park in or type fighting cocks pub in google@maps for public transport options

Fancy seeing a bit more of this walk, check out this video from our channel!

👉 Why not make it a countryside getaway with an overnight stay at one of these highly-rated accommodations!

6. Boldre Village

A Boldre village walk in the New Forest 🌳🥾🐮🦋

Starting at the red lion pub, kids and dog in tow there are some great landscapes and diverse scenes on the walk. Many a woodland we passed through, all with a varied look with their different trees, spotting acorns, funghi, beechnuts and more. Butterflies a plenty, as well as grazing cows and horses in fields with some scenes passable as something from a screensaver backdrop. 🦋

We loved meandering across different points of the Lymington river with one wooden bridge and Ford in particular being a very photogenic spot as you will see. The new Forest app is great as it has a gps to track you along the way so easy to stay on route and also it gives you points of interest to spot along the way which on this walk included a 17th century country house and a church.

The walk took us around 2 hours and easy for the kids as well as small pup, the red lion pub looks ideal for a post trip pint or meal.

📍Outside the Red Lion pub, Boldre SO41 8NE

More info here – https://www.newforestnpa.gov.uk/…/new…/boldre-village/

7. Boldrewood deer sanctuary

Boldrewood deer sanctuary, New Forest 🦌

This is a nice area to explore with three walk options with coloured markers so easy to follow, free parking, big picnic area with picnic tables in woods and stunning landscape. They have a deer viewing platform with the hope that you will get to see the deer on the hill in the distance. No luck spotting deer on our last visit but if you are there nice and early you may.🦌

📍Bolderwood Arboretum Ornamental Dr, Lyndhurst SO43 7GE

8. Hale & Woodgreen

This walk is in our favourite region of the New Forest in the north which is generally the quieter area.

A 3 mile walk in Hale, we parked up in the quiet gravel car park with ponies greeting us open arrival.

🥾The wellies and walking boots were certainly a good idea as we found, it’s a wet heathland site so at the damper times of year it is extra wet. But part of the fun, for the kids jumping in those puddles and stomping through.

🦌At the top of the valley at the start of the walk we spotted a large herd of deer which was a welcome sight. The walk is mainly open heathland, crossed with a little forest by the pathways, very serene and quiet and we spotted some birds of prey on route too. The nice thing about the route is there are lots of shortcuts if you wanted to do a shorter route too 😀

After the walk you can drive a little further, a few minutes down the road and stop at a nice country pub in Woodgreen village called The Horse & Groom.

📍 Hale Purlieu, Fordingbridge SP6 2NT

Want to know more about the pub we ate at, click here…

9. Rockford Common

📍Here’s a fave trip we love heading on in the west of Hampshire and Rockford common.

🛷Parking up at Rockford common car park you will see the unique Hampshire site of Rockford sandpit looming large where lots of families like to visit for a spot of sand sledging. We saw various successes with young kids trying it out, looked hard to pick up any speed or slide at all so most parents were pulling the kids, but enjoyable all the same.

🐴At the top of the sandpit you can admire great views over Hampshire and neighbouring Dorset county with surrounding lakes and the river Avon. The area behind the sandpit has some brilliant circular walks, both short and longer which are nice and easy to follow. We went for a short 3k stroll taking in lots of wildlife on route including new Forest ponies, and hide and seek in amongst the shrubbery for the kids.

Just near by there is Hockey’s Farm Shop if your peckish after your walk which we highly reccomend!

📍Rockford Common Car Park, BH24 3NF

📍Rockford common

https://maps.app.goo.gl/KbYNnLTMCSTwU4gR9?g_st=ic

📍 Hockey’s Farm Shop

https://maps.app.goo.gl/nkvgNEPiv3yhRRch8?g_st=ic

10. Beaulieu to Buckler’s Hard

A walk from Beaulieu to Buckler’s Hard🥾⛵🐴🌲

This family friendly walk in this beautiful area of the New Forest is a firm favourite with us. It is a 5 mile walk in total from the village to Buckler’s hard and back and follows a footpath along through countryside and forests with nearby views of the river which it winds past. It normally takes around 45 minutes one way.

The Bucklers hard area is free to enter for the general public and there are wide open green spaces to sit and enjoy a picnic or enjoy the nearby pub The Master Builder’s at Buckler’s Hard or small museum. There are great views from the grass area of Bucklers Hard Marina and the river itself with yachts sailing past as well as plenty of wildlife.

We enjoyed a tasty coffee and white chocolate hot drink from the family run Pallets Tea & Coffee House – Beaulieu for the start of our walk and on return to the village after the walk, we enjoyed a new forest ice cream from Queens mead Village Shop. Love supporting the local independents and no big chain coffee shops in this village!

Parking – We parked up at the Beaulieu public car park which is pay and display and right in the centre of the village. There are also free public loos by the car park as well as a handy water bottle refill spot. 🚰

📍SO42 7YE

Buggys/wheelchairs – We saw plenty of buggys and it’s a pretty flat footpath.

Route – The route is on the free ‘New Forest Walks’ app.

11. Milford on Sea

Head to the New Forest coast for a jolly to Milford on sea, here’s what we got up to if you want to do the same!

🍳🥑 Breakfast at Melleford Cafe

This cosy cafe with a nice atmosphere has been consistently voted the best brunch spot in the whole of Hampshire on tripadvisor for two years now. One of our faves, it’s independently run, serves up delicious, locally sourced, and large dishes with some more unique one too…the wild garlic mushrooms dish is perfection! With smoothies and milkshakes on point too. Dog friendly.

🛍️ Independents & village green

Nice shops surround the village green to have a look around and coastal bakery is always worth a visit for their huge cakes and sweet treats

A cliff top walk and colourful Beach huts 🐚

We parked up at rook cliff car park, we then walked down onto the beach to enjoy some skimming stones and admiring the pretty beach huts lined up before heading up stairs by girdle beach car park and back along the cliff pathway to our car park. Top views over to the needles on the Isle of Wight.

Playgrounds, lunch at needle view 🛝

There’s two playgrounds right by the beach next to the cafe, each aimed at a different age range for the kids, we enjoyed the one for older kids which had lots of unique things to enjoy. We ordered lunch of fish and chips from the cafe and the 30 min wait wasn’t a problem with the kids entertained.

Hurst spit 🪹🌊

From the same spot by the cafe we walked some of hurst spit which is a long shingle walking route with the water on one side and nature reserve on the other. We brought the crabbing kit to do a spot of crabbing from the bridge. We will be back to walk the full length of the spot to hurst castle or maybe a bit of stand up paddle boarding.

Visit Milford on Sea

📍 Cliff Rd, Milford on Sea, Lymington SO41 0NS

12. Holmsley Trail

Holmsley to Brockenhurst Off-Road

It’s perfect for families with younger children as it’s just 8 miles and takes in the old railway line which ran between Wimborne and Brockenhurst. We did a slightly extended version heading into Brockenhurst village so total of 15k in the end.

The scenery was stunning, green valleys and open landscapes, wildlife a plenty and we even spotted an adder! First time for us. Plenty of snack stops on route and we also headed into Brockenhurst villages cute cafes for coffee and cake as well as a well deserved lolly.

🏁 Start: Wooton Bridge Car Park – BH25 5TZ. Walk slightly uphill on the road from the car park and you will see the bike trail signs on the right.

🚶Distance: 8 miles on the off road route

☕️🍰 Brockenhurst village has great options. The Buttery Brockenhurst

🧺so many lovely areas on route for a picnic

ℹ️More info and route here – https://www.visit-hampshire.co.uk/…/holmsley-to…

Be Forest Friendly: Please park only in designated car parks, not on a verge or in gateways. Lock your car, taking any valuables with you.

We love using the free app New Forest Walks to explore the forest and we highly recommend that you do to!

#ourhampshire

👉 For highly-rated accommodation around the New Forest, check these ones!

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