The New Forest is a great place for a holiday in autumn. Autumn is the best time of year to visit the New Forest, with beautiful coloured leaves on the trees. It’s also a great time of year to spot deer and the famous New Forest ponies. Here are my top autumnal walks and activities in the New Forest.
I love visiting the New Forest in autumn. It’s a great place to enjoy the changing colour of the leaves on the trees. There’s a huge variety of different types of trees in the New Forest, so there’s a huge variety of colours. My top autumnal walks and activities in the New Forest will show you the best of the autumnal colours in the forest. Plus, my top autumnal walks and activities in the New Forest will show you the best ways to see wildlife in the New Forest in autumn. From deer to ponies, birds and mushrooms, there’s a huge amount of wildlife here. Here are my top autumnal walks and activities in the New Forest.
1. Bolderwood Deer Sanctuary
My favourite of my top autumnal walks and activities in the New Forest is Bolderwood Deer Sanctuary. This is a beautiful walk in autumn, with lots of pretty, colourful trees. Plus, Bolderwood Deer Sanctuary is one of the best places in the New Forest to spot fallow deer. There’s a herd of fallow deer what live in this area. But you’ve still got to be lucky to spot them on the walk.
There’s a good size parking area are Bolderwood Deer Sanctuary. And there are several well-signposted walks from the car park. This means that you can do these walks without needing to follow a map – you can just follow the colour-coded posts. I recommend the ‘red’ walk, which is a 2 mile circular walk from the Bolderwood car park.
Bolderwood deer viewing platform
Start your walk by walking to the deer viewing platform. This wooden platform overlooks a wide, open space where the deer can sometimes be seen. You can be lucky and see some deer here. But if there aren’t any here, don’t worry – you’ll have plenty more chances to spot them.
Autumnal views around Bolderwood
The autumnal trees on this walk are really pretty. As you walk, you’ll be rewarded with lots of different views through the forest. The coloured leaves of the different trees are lovely. There are little streams on this walk as well, which are really cute.
Fallow Deer around Bolderwood Deer Sanctuary
The highlight of this walk is the chance to spot the fallow deer. I was really lucky and saw some fallow deer on the walk. You need to keep an eye out for movements in the trees. Deer can be quite shy, so it might take a while to spot them.
If you do spot some deer, make sure you don’t approach too quickly or you might frighten the deer. But if you approach slowly, and if you’re lucky, you can get some amazing views and photos of the deer.
New Forest ponies around Bolderwood
The walk around Bolderwood Deer Sanctuary is also a great place to spot New Forest ponies. There are thousands of ponies in the New Forest that roam free. They’re a lot easier to see than deer, as the ponies tend to be less nervous of people. I loved spotting ponies in the forest, and I loved getting close enough to get some good photos.
The New Forest ponies come in lots of different colours as well as sizes. Even in autumn, you can see foals and younger ponies as well. They’re all super cute, especially when they pose nicely for photos!
2. Tall Trees Trail and Blackwater Arboretum
Another great place to visit in the New Forest is the Tall Trees Trail at Blackwater Arboretum. This is definitely one of the top autumnal walks and activities in the New Forest. There’s good parking at Blackwater Arboretum car park. And the Tall Trees Trail is well signposted. It’s a really easy walk to follow. It goes on a footpath down one side of the Rhinefield Ornamental Drive – but far from the road, so you can’t see any cars. And then you cross the road and walk back up the other side – again, far from the road.
Trees on the Tall Trees Trail in the New Forest
The trees on this trail are fascinating. There are some beautiful autumnal trees, with bright yellow colours in autumn.
As the name suggests, this walk also showcases the tallest trees in the New Forest. There are Giant Redwood trees here, and also Giant Sequoias. These trees are huge. They’re tall and also have huge trunks. It’s a great walk to appreciate the different types of trees in the New Forest.
Mushrooms and fungi in autumn in the New Forest
This walk is also a great place to spot lots of different types of mushroom and fungi in the New Forest. Autumn is the best time to spot mushrooms and fungi, and there are lots on this walk.
I’m not an expert in mushrooms and fungi, so I don’t know the names of all the different types I saw on this walk! But I do know that you need to be super careful with wild mushrooms, as some can be poisonous. So I took photos, but definitely didn’t touch any!
New Forest ponies on the Tall Trees Trail
The Tall Trees Trail is another great place in the New Forest to spot ponies. But you might need to take a slight detour off the main path to spot them. Sometimes, you can get lucky and see ponies on the main path. But sometimes, going down a side path can reward you with ponies, as they sometimes prefer to be on the quieter paths.
I just loved being able to get close to these beautiful animals. It really adds an extra special dimension to an autumnal walk in the New Forest, to be able to see ponies just freely wandering around.
Keep reading on the next page for more great things to do in the New Forest!