Otter Trail
Children will enjoy spotting wildlife in the river, a ‘waterfall’, an alpaca farm and a small play area on this walk.
A little bridge provides a vantage point for spotting wildlife in the Itchen Navigation
The Basics
Time: 1 hour 35 minutes
Distance: 5 km
Terrain: Uneven riverside paths that can be wet, fields, woodland with muddy sections, stile, short section on roads with pavement and a brief section on a road without a pavement
Pushchair: No
Dogs: Yes
Refreshments: Brambridge Garden Centre, which has a restaurant or picnic tables in Allbrook Meadow
Toilets: None
Public Transport: Stagecoach route 61 between Winchester and Eastleigh stops at Osborne Mews on the junction with Pitmore Road where you can join this walk
Parking: Along the side of Pitmore Road, closer to the bottom is better (Postcode: SO50 4LS - W3W - cape/star/expose)
The clear waters of The Itchen
This has been one of our most popular walks to date, and it is easy to see why. Follow beautiful River Itchen past an alpaca farm and over bridges before returning through ancient woodland.
The Route
Head down Pitmore Road and at the bottom, turn left to join Highbridge Road. Walk along the pavement and go under the railway bridge. Look out for the gushing water of Allbrook Lock on your left. Immediately after the lock, you will need to turn left to join the footpath. Walk along the path with the water to your left. This is a beautiful stretch of the old navigation with plenty of wildlife to look out for as as well as a couple of farms. First on the right, children will enjoy views of paddocks with rare breed sheep, chickens and other animals. Further along, on the opposite banks, they will enjoy an alpaca farm.
Eventually, the path will hit Kiln Lane. Turn left and go over the bridge and then immediately re-join the path on your right. (If you want refreshments, you could also take a diversion right here along Kiln Lane and find Brambridge Garden Centre around the corner, which sells tea and cake)
The water will now be on your right. Walk past the wooden fence panels of a property and continue over a little boardwalk and past a weir. Walk along this section of path until you see a concrete bridge to your right. Do not go over the bridge, but continue onwards. This is a point of reference for your next turning which will shortly be on your left, but is not well signed. There is a footpath heading away from the river, into trees. It is easy to walk past the path and not notice it, but look out for a pair of yellow arrows which have been painted onto some trees to guide you. Follow the path once you have found it and you will come to a fork, where you should take the left path. Walk a little further and you will come to another fork, where you should go left again with the railway track on your right.
Turn right when you see the tunnel and go under the railway. Afterwards, turn immediately left and this time continue with the tracks to your left. The narrow path will open out into a graveyard with no church.
Cross the graveyard and hit Kiln Lane again. Turn right and shortly you will see an entranceway on your left with a tree in the middle and a ‘private’ sign tacked on. Go over the stile next to a large gate and follow the worn path across the middle of a field.
At the other side of the field, the path enters Otterbourne Park Wood. Go over a wooden railway sleeper and into the woods. Follow the orange/yellow Otter Trail marker ahead of you and then almost immediately after that, take the left path at a fork. Stick with the same path now, keeping the edge of the woodland and glimpses of the fields beyond to your left the entire time. You will need to cross a little stream using another railway sleeper and then go around a large tree that has fallen onto the path. The path will then climb slightly and when it flattens again the orange/yellow otter paw marker will guide you left over a little wooden bridge over the stream. At the next otter trail sign, veer left around a lot of felled trees. Descend down to your left until you are almost touching the boundary fence, but then go right and keep walking with the fence to your left. Follow the path and go through an old rusted metal gateway. To the left will be some coniferous trees, follow the path as it veers to the right, up and away from them. At the top of this section of path, you will hit a vehicle track.
Ahead of you will be some pony paddocks. Turn left down the track. This track will lead you back out onto Pitmore road where you parked your car. Just before you get to the road, look out on your left for an opening into Allbrook Meadow. There are picnic tables here and a small children’s play area.
Please note that parts of the path after Kiln Lane in section three above is prone to flooding in periods of wet weather. When we walked the route last in November 2024, it was impassable even in wellies. In this event, head back to Kiln Lane and walk along the road to re-join the walk at section five.
Did you know?
As the name of this trail suggests, Otters do live on the Itchen but they tend to be active at night, when they hunt the waters for eel and other fish, so it is unlikely that you will see one. During the day they lie up in sheltered ‘holts’, such as under tree roots near the river.
If you enjoyed this walk…
…try popping upstream a bit and doing this walk from Shawford to Twyford via Compton Lock
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