Journal New Forest Collection
Discover National Parks Fortnight
Discover National Parks Fortnight, held each Spring, is an annual celebration of the UK’s 15 National Parks. Across our wild isle, we are surrounded by an wonderful spectrum of landscapes, wildlife, villages and traditions, waiting to be unlocked.
With over 566 km² to explore, the New Forest makes an incredible country escape for all; families, couples, little ones and older ones too. To help inspire your next adventure, we’ve compiled 10 reasons to visit the New Forest National Park.
Landscape
The New Forest is one of Europe’s most important locations for nature and conservation. Its unique mix of landscapes including ancient woodlands, wetlands and bogs, and open heathlands means it is home to many rare species of plants and wildlife long since lost from the UK and Europe.
Locally-sourced
There is an incredible array of artisan producers, farmers, crafters, distillers and suppliers within the New Forest. Meaning much of what is served to our guests during their visit, journeys straight from the forest onto their fork. The New Forest Marque is a food and produce scheme set up to champion businesses who pride themselves on producing and providing food, drinks and crafts with clearly defined New Forest provenance and we are proud to showcase our Marque.
Free-roaming Fauna
The New Forest is rich in wildlife thanks to the wonderful mosaic of wet and dry heaths, mires and bogs, ancient pasture woodland, coniferous plantations, acid grasslands, mixed farmland and coastline. This combination of natural environments is hard to find anywhere else in western Europe. As a result it has an incredibly unique array of wildlife living within its order, including over 2,600 kinds of beetle, alongside bats, dragonflies, damselflies, heathland birds, reptiles, spiders and wading birds.
The forest is also home to over 3,000 free-roaming New Forest ponies, which graze the heathland and forest throughout the year, their friends Pannage pigs which tour the national park during autumn to collect fallen beech mast, chestnuts and acorns, which are hazardous to the ponies. As well as docile cattle and some 200 donkeys.
Forest Flora
The New Forest’s plants and fungi are one of the reasons this area receives extra protection as a National Park. From devil’s finger to butcher’s broom, petty whin to wood spurge – the Forest is full of unusual plants and fungi with intriguing names.
Heathland is probably the most iconic scenery of the New Forest National Park, with large swathes of open land turning a beautiful purple colour from August as the heather flowers. Worldwide, lowland heath is mainly found in north-west Europe, with the majority in the UK, Denmark and Holland. The UK has lost over 80% of its lowland heath since 1800, and now has about 20% of the world’s lowland heath, making it a very rare habitat.
Heathland History
The rich cultural heritage and history is one of the many reasons why visitors are so attracted to visiting the National Park. The New Forest is full of history, that of factual and hauntingly spooky. From where it first started with William the Conqueror and his ‘Nova Foresta’, to the smuggling and crimes along the coastline and the rich Commoning histories of the land, still practiced to this day.
Activities, Attractions & Adventures
Activities in the New Forest range from walking, cycling and horse riding through to more sedate activities and those that make your pulse-rise. With our diverse landscape, the New Forest is the perfect place to enjoy lots of different many forms of activity making it ideal for a short break, holiday or even just a day out. The New Forest is an absolute haven for outdoor adventures such as; Beaulieu Motor Museum, Exbury Gardens and New Forest Activities
Walking & Cycling
Across the forest there are over 140 miles of tracks and footpaths, covering a variety of landscapes and terrains as well as 100 miles of way marked off-road cycle paths. All promise to showcase the very best of the New Forest, including plenty of ponies and cattle along the way too.
Dog Friendly Forest
Following the some 140 miles of footpaths, the New Forest is the perfect sniffing paradise for your four-legged companions to explore. Many village shops, eateries and accomodations, including New Forest Collection’s Bartley Lodge, Beaulieu Inn, Forest Lodge, Burley Manor and The Drift are dog-friendly too. The National Park simply ask you keep your furry companions on leads when in highly-populated pony areas and you take their mess home with you.
Village Strolls & Shopping
Shopping in The New Forest offers a fabulous choice from independent art galleries and antiques to craft shops, local produce and designer clothes shops, there are plenty of places to keep even the most extreme shopaholic satisfied! Take a look around some of our towns and villages and you will find a wide range of places to shop; Lymington’s High Street is an ideal spot for shopping. The Georgian street is lined with independent shops and boutiques as well as some of the High Street favourites. There are also regular markets bringing with them many stalls selling local produce, fresh fruit and vegetables, furniture, clothing and jewellery.
Forest Freebies
From the New Forest Heritage Centre’s interactive museum to Furzey Garden Fairy doors, or perhaps Bolderwood Deer Sanctuary, there is so much to see and do in the New Forest without worrying about breaking the bank. Across the heathland there are a number of free car parks and picnic spots too. Just be mindful of any nosy animals nearby who can get a little peckish too- they have been known to eat the odd picnic. The National Park request no free-roaming animals are fed as this can tamper with their unique diets.
