The New Forest is a great place for dog walks. There are miles of footpaths, with many easy to follow walks. And it’s a great place to spot deer and ponies on your dog walks. Here are the best dog walks in the New Forest.
To fully enjoy the best dog walks in the New Forest, I definitely recommend having your own car. Most of these walks aren’t easily accessible by public transport. Plus, your dog might get muddy on the forest walks – so it’s best to have your own car!
All of my best dog walks in the New Forest have easily accessible parking and well signposted routes. You definitely don’t need to be an expert map reader to be able to enjoy these walks. It’s always a good idea to have a map with you when walking in the New Forest. But these walks are easy to follow, so you can focus on enjoying time with your dog and the beautiful forest. Just make sure you’re fully prepared for the weather – it can be rainy at any time of the year in the UK! Keep reading for my selection of the best dog walks in the New Forest, as well as some tips on where to stay in the New Forest.
1. Bolderwood Deer Sanctuary
The first of my best dog walks in the New Forest is the walk around Bolderwood Deer Sanctuary. There’s a good car park here, and several well-marked footpaths of varying lengths. I recommend the Radnor Trail, which is about 2 miles and takes you through some lovely forest. You can follow the red signposts for this trail.
Although the name of this walk is Bolderwood Deer Sanctuary, it’s not strictly a deer sanctuary – it’s just an area where fallow deer are known to live. There is part of the walk where you need to keep your dog on a lead. But for a lot of the walk, your dog can run around and explore.
Start the walk with a visit to the deer viewing platform – you’ll need your dog on a lead for this. The wooden platform looks over a meadow where the deer can sometimes be seen. But don’t worry if you don’t see many deer here – you’ll have plenty of other chances to spot them on the walk. I was lucky and saw some deer in the forest on the walk – including a male deer with really impressive antlers!
The walk takes you through beautiful forest scenery. I loved seeing all the autumn colours – I visited here at the end of October, so the trees were starting to turn beautiful colours. But it’s a beautiful walk at any time of the year.
New Forest ponies
No walk in the New Forest is complete without seeing some New Forest ponies! There are thousands of ponies in the New Forest that roam free. So you’re likely to see some on your walk. The ponies are really friendly and used to people and dogs around.
I loved seeing these beautiful animals. It really added something special to the walk to just see free roaming ponies. The walk at Bolderwood Deer Sanctuary is a great place to spot ponies as well as deer, which definitely makes it one of the best dog walks in the New Forest.
2. Tall Trees Trail and Blackwater Arboretum
Another of the best dog walks in the New Forest is the Tall Trees Trail. This walk is well signposted and not too long, so it’s a perfect dog walk with the family. The route is really easy to follow, as it’s well signposted. The footpath is fairly close to the road, so you might want to keep your dog on a lead, or at least keep them fairly close.
The Tall Trees Trail takes you through some of the tallest trees in the New Forest. On this route, there are Giant Redwood trees, as well as Giant Sequoias. These trees are huge, and really impressive.
This walk is also a great place to spot fungi, especially in the autumn. If your dog likes to eat things, then maybe keep them on a lead while you’re fungi-spotting, as some wild mushrooms and fungi can be dangerous for dogs if they eat them. But it’s a fascinating place to spot lots of different types of wild mushrooms and fungi.
The Tall Trees Trail is beautiful at all times of the year. But again, my favourite time to visit is autumn with the beautiful autumnal colours. There are just so many beautiful trees here.
And of course, you might get lucky and spot some New Forest ponies! I couldn’t resist taking lots more photos of the ponies here.
3. Knightwood Oak
The walk around Knightwood Oak is a great option for getting a bit further away from roads and people. If your dog likes long walks where they can run free, without too many people around, then this will be a good walk for you.
There’s a short, well-marked footpath from the car park at Knightwood Oak to the Knightwood Oak tree itself. This is one of the oldest trees in the New Forest. It’s a really impressive, huge tree. This part of the walk can be a bit busier, as quite a lot of people walk the short distance from the car park to the famous oak tree.
However, once you get past the Knightwood Oak tree, you lose a lot of the people. So the paths here are a lot quieter for your dog walk. But the paths aren’t as well signposted once you get past the Knightwood Oak. So you’ll either need a good map, or just remember where you walked and retrace your steps to the car park.
The quieter footpaths in this area of the New Forest make it a great place to spot even more ponies. And of course, to take even more photos of the ponies!
The Knightwood Oak walk is quite close to the pretty small town of Lyndhurst. After your walk, you can pop into the village for a walk around. There are lots of dog-friendly pubs and tea rooms, so it’s a great place to relax after your lovely forest walk.
4. Ashurst
The last of my best dog walks in the New Forest is the walk around Ashurst. This walk isn’t generally as busy as some of the other walks like the Tall Trees Trail. So it’s a great dog walk if your dog likes to run around a bit more.
The walk here isn’t as well signposted, so you’ll likely need a map. But the paths are clear and easy to follow, as long as you have a map to keep track of where you’re going.
The highlight of this walk for me was the beautiful forest views. It’s a fairly dense area of forest, and it feels like you’re right in the middle of the forest. Again, it’s a beautiful part of the New Forest to visit in autumn because the colours of the trees are just beautiful.
Where to stay in the New Forest in autumn
There are lots of great dog-friendly options of places to stay in the New Forest. There are some great camping sites, so in the summer the New Forest is a great place to go camping with your dog. Campsites range from basic campsites that are right in the middle of the forest, to bigger campsites with more facilities.
If you’re looking for something a bit more luxurious than camping, there are also some great boutique country house hotels in the area. The Woodlands Lodge Hotel has dog-friendly bedrooms. It’s set in a really peaceful location, with paths that open out right onto the New Forest. The hotel is charming, and it has a great restaurant as well. The breakfasts here are amazing too.
Another great dog-friendly country house hotel in the New Forest is the Crown Manor House Hotel. This hotel is in Lyndhurst, so it’s the perfect option if you want to stay in the pretty small town of Lyndhurst. The hotel has parking, which makes it easy to visit with your dog. The hotel has loads of character and charm. And the restaurant is amazing – some of the best food I’ve had in a long time!
The restaurant may not the cheapest, but the food is great – the venison was just amazing! The Crown Manor House Hotel is another great place to stay while you enjoy the best dog walks in the New Forest.
Hope you enjoy my best dog walks in the New Forest! Make sure you also check out my guide to the best autumnal activities in the New Forest. There are also more great dog walks in the UK, with the best dog walks in the Forest of Dean and the best dog walks on Anglesey, Wales.
