Tall Trees Trail
On this walk, children will enjoy looking for ponies, getting an ice-cream, playing in the river, climbing trees and admiring some impressively tall ones.
The Basics
Time: 40 minutes
Distance: 2.3 km
Terrain: Flat woodland paths
Pushchair: Yes
Dogs: Yes, but it tends to be a busy area with lots of ponies around, so leads advisable
Refreshments: There is usually an ice-cream van in Blackwater car park as well as lots of picnic benches
Toilets: Yes, in Blackwater car park
Parking: The main, free car park to use for this trail is Blackwater car park off Rhinefield Ornamental Drive (Postcode: SO42 7QB - W3W: shredding/shadow/drum ). This can get full at weekends, so a little further up the same road is Brock Hill car park, also free (Postcode: SO42 7QB - W3W: taller/responded/wallet ) .
The New Forest’s Tall Trees Trail is an incredibly easy to follow route that passes under some of the tallest Douglas fir trees in Britain as well as two truly enormous redwoods.
The Route
From Blackwater car park, head across the road and under the arch. Turn right at the wooden map board and follow the signs for Tall Trees Trail. For this walk, do not continue ahead through the next arch (this leads into Blackwater Arboretum).
Go over a little wooden bridge and follow the way markers as the trail goes parallel to the road. Pass by an ancient barrow mound and then further along look out for the information board that points out the two giant redwoods away to your left.
Continue along the path until you get to Brock Hill car park (you can also start the walk from this point). Cross the road and turn right, following the markers as they lead you back to Blackwater car park.
If you want to access the river as in our photos, just head south out of the bottom of the car park near the entrance and you will find the spot just a few metres away.
Did you know?
Having been planted in the 1850s, Blackwater has some of the oldest firs in The New Forest, perhaps even Great Britain.
