Otter Trail
Children will enjoy spotting wildlife in the river, a ‘waterfall’ and an alpaca farm on this walk.
The Basics
Time: 1.5 hours
Distance: 3.5 miles
Terrain: Uneven tow path, fields, woodland with muddy sections, stile
Pushchair: No
Dogs: Yes
Refreshments: None on the walk, but you could divert down Kiln Lane to Brambridge Garden Centre, which has a restaurant
Toilets: None
Parking: Along the side of Pitmore Road (Postcode: SO50 4LS - W3W - cape/star/expose)
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 to join Highbridge Road. Pass by the gushing water of the lock and go under a railway bridge. Immediately after you will be able to go left to join the towpath. You will follow this same path now for some time, passing the alpaca farm on the opposite bank. About half way along, you will find yourself walking with the river on one side and the navigation on the other.
Eventually, the path will hit Kiln Lane. Turn left and go over the bridge and then immediately re-join the tow path on your right. (It is our understanding that you could also take a diversion right here and find Brambridge Garden Centre, which sells tea and cake)
The river will disappear behind a fence for a short time. After the water is visible again, walk for a few minutes until you see a footbridge on your right. Just after that, you will see a waymarker and a path on your left. Follow the path away from the river, across an open space and then into trees. 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 a driveway with a stile and path across the middle of a field.
At the end of the field, the path enters Otterbourne Park Wood. Follow the Otter Trail markers to a sleeper bridge. On the other side the paths gets confusing, and you may not take the exact same ones we did, but the aim is to keep the field and edge of the wood visible on your left at all times. By doing this, whichever path you take, you should walk until you spy the corner edge of the field. Keep straight ahead as the field ends until you hit a track by a pony paddock. Turn left down this track until you reach Pitmore Road again.
We recommend viewing the map as a Trails Map:
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.