Tall Trees Trail: an easy autumn walk in the New Forest

If you are after an easy autumn walk that does not demand a full day, the Tall Trees Trail at Blackwater is hard to beat. It is a short, circular route around Forestry England's Blackwater Arboretum, and it has been named one of the best walks in the country, which is no small thing given how much competition there is. At 1.4 miles (2.3 km) it takes about an hour to complete, and it is rated as easy, so it works as well for families with young children as it does for anyone who would rather not scramble up a hill.

The real draw here is the trees. The trail follows the Rhinefield Ornamental Drive, where majestic conifers were planted back in the 1850s, and it takes you past some of the oldest and most impressive Douglas firs in Britain, some dating as far back as 1860. There are views of two enormous redwoods, giant sequoias that can reach up to 50 metres, and over in the southern woods you will find ancient trees well over 200 and 300 years old, part of a forest history that goes back nine centuries. The oaks here can reach up to 450 years, which puts them roughly in the time of Elizabeth I, and beech, yew and holly fill out the rest. Along the way there are six marked points, Tall Trees Trail 1 to 6, each with panoramic views, wildlife spots and a bit of local interest to stop at.

It is also one of the more accessible walks going. The path is smooth, level gravel, at least 1.1 metres wide at its narrowest point, with frequent resting spots and no gates to navigate. It crosses Rhinefield Ornamental Drive under a wooden archway and includes a small wooden bridge, 1.5 metres wide with handrails, so it is genuinely dog and family friendly. The whole thing starts and finishes at the Blackwater car park, grid reference SU 268 047, which holds space for 50 cars, two disabled spaces, accessible toilets, picnic tables, bike stands and an information point.

A bit of context helps. The New Forest is a national park in the south-west corner of Hampshire, established as a royal hunting ground by William the Conqueror in 1079 and only given national park status in 2005. It is still working woodland, with free-roaming ponies, red and roe deer, sika and muntjac, and the old practice of pannage, letting domestic pigs in to eat the acorns, still goes on here. Because of the risk of wildfire, BBQs and outdoor cooking equipment are banned across the forest, so leave the grill at home. If you want to make a day of it, the nearby village of Lyndhurst is the largest in the forest and its administrative centre, and the arboretum itself carries a sensory sculpture trail as part of the Our Past, Our Future project. The Tall Trees Trail came 58th in a 2017 ITV poll for Britain's Favourite Walk, which is a fair shout for a route you can do in an hour.