Acres Down - Highland Water (New Forest)

Sylvia Saunders

You need to log in as a member of Walkingworld to access the details for this walk and have an active subscription. Please join, or log in above if you are already a member.

A superb circular walk with some great New Forest views, the route is varied with open heathland, plenty of New Forest ponies and all the best of the forest itself. Be sure to wear good boots or wellies as, with all New Forest walks, it does have its boggy bits and there is also a stream to ford. Acres Down is just 2½ miles from Lyndhurst, the capital of the New Forest, on the western edge of Minstead. In the village of Minstead you will find a beautiful church dating from the 11th Century, where Arthur Conan Doyle is buried. There is also a good village pub, The Trusty Servant, where both kids and dogs are welcome.

Dog-owners will be pleased to know that there are no stiles or dog difficulties to negotiate and my Labrador just loved this walk!

England - South England - Hampshire - New Forest

Features

Birds, Butterflies, Flowers, Good for Kids, Great Views, Public Transport, River, Wildlife, Woodland

6/21/2020 - John Branscombe

Really good walk in the forest and heath. Very good directions. Enjoyable. Thank you Sylvia

8/13/2013 - Bertie The Dog

Sadly we gave up on this one as we just found it so hard to follow. I know this can be a bit of a problem in the New Forest, but this is the only time we have 'given up'. But there are lots of cycle tracks around there, so we still had a nice walk in a lovely area.

9/27/2012 - David Wilkins

Beautiful walk - lots of mud and water for my dog! The car park is now called Acres Down carpark. I drove down the turning to the houses first (where the start of the walk goes) as the homemade sign to the carpark was ambiguous. At point 3 there are no longer any gateposts and there is no longer a tree trunk across. At point 6 I think I am not sure that I came to 'pony pen' but there was a gate on the left and following the directions from there took me to the right place (I know the bit I was heading for well, which helped). At 12, as has been said before, the pine tree doesn't stand out from the others. There is no longer a fallen tree. It is an obvious y junction in a clearing and it would be better to describe it as such and say take the left turning. At point 17 the number on the waymark is now 97!! A bit concerning!!! Just spotted - at the end of the directions the car park is called Acres Down - just a typing error at the start I guess. As a general rule, I don't find it helpful when things such as fallen trees are put in the directions as they do not often stay, or they get overgrown. But I had a lovely lovely walk today and Jazz is now exhausted and happy!

9/22/2011 - Jill Larby

4/09/11 Great walk. Dogs loved it. Be warned conditions were quite wet and they got plastered in mud. Terrain has changed over time and found navigating quite difficult at times.

8/17/2010 - Pete Steele

A superb walk with beautiful scenery all round. A couple of changes over time are at point 12 where the noticeable pine is not so noticeable any more. To the left of it though is a dead tree that stands about 12 ft. Also the fence at point 14 is still missing so you will have to keep a good eye out for the track on the left approx 3/4 of the way up the hill. Lastly at point 17 T junction the post has been changed and is now marked 16. A beautiful and well planned walk. My dogs loved it.

9/27/2009 - Sally Longhorn

Another great contribution by Sylvia Saunders. At point 13 the fence and padlocked barrier are no longer there (Sept 2009). Need to watch out for the left turn 3/4 of the way up the slope instead.