Millyford Bridge Circular


Distance: 51/2 miles
Parking: Millyford Bridge car park
Map OL22 New Forest
Map ref for car park SU268078
Map and compass may be useful on forest paths away from roads and cycle tracks
Be very careful if you leave paths and trails as areas of the Forest are boggy and can be dangerous.

Leave the car park by returning to the entrance and turn right, keeping to the north side of the road. On the south side of the road you will soon see the Portuguese Fireplace. During WWI Portuguese troops were stationed in the Forest and they built this fireplace to cook their meals in the traditional way. It remains as memorial to them.
A little further along from the Fireplace, still on the south side of the road there is a gate on to a cycle trail. On the north side of the road, directly opposite, a grassy path leads down through the trees to a gate. Go through the gate and follow the forest path up, ignoring another path off to the right about half way along, until a crossroads is reached. Go straight over the crossroads on to a broader path and keep along this past a minor crossroads until you come to a permissive cycle trail. Continue ahead still along a forest path until it meets another gravelled cycle trail. Turn left and when shortly the trail bends to the right keep straight on up another forest path. Be careful along here as it can be boggy in places; there is a rush matting placed over part of the path to keep you out of the mud. This path starts to climb and some trees along the way can be seen to have numbers attached to them. On the day I walked this route, there was a tree adorned with paper leaf-shapes with wishes written on them by schoolchildren. A little further up from the tree is a gate. Go through this gate and across the road to the Bolderwood Deer Sanctuary car park. On the other side of the car park you can cross the Ornamental Drive and go down to the viewpoint of the deer sanctuary.
Hint: if there are a lot of people about, or there’s noise and moving around, you are unlikely to see deer here. It’s best to move on to a quieter area where deer are more likely to cross your path.
From the viewpoint, return to the Ornamental Drive and turn right along it. Pass Bolderwood Cottage on the left. Ignore the path beside the fence and continue another 50 metres approx to a grass path going left into the trees and bracken. Here is where two young stags crossed my path while the people back at the deer sanctuary might possibly not have seen deer all day.
Follow this path along until a narrow path goes into a dip to the right. Follow this down and through a gate. Keep following the path along as it skims the road and then bends back towards the forest. The path although not clearly defined is quite obvious through the bracken. It will lead you down to another gate. Go through the gate and when you come to the corner of another fenced inclosure, not shown on the map, take the path to the left, with the inclosure on your right. The path will eventually come out on to a broad, clear track coming round from the right. Keep following this track along for about 500 metres until it begins to bend round to the left. By the trees on the right there is a switchback path beside the line of trees. Go along this about 50 metres then left on to a narrow forest path going east through bracken and trees. Go straight over a crossroads with a broader track. The path goes over a wooden bridge and slightly uphill until it emerges on to a cycle trail.
From here you can turn right to visit the Reptile Centre and simply double back up the cycle trail, past the forest track you emerged from and follow this clear, easy route back to the gate which comes out on to the road near the Portuguese Fireplace.
(You can divert on to a pine-strewn track through dark pine forest to the right of the cycle trail. This will take you over a stream and eventually bear you back to the cycle trail.)
From the gate turn right up the road to return to Millyford Bridge car park. Take care, as ponies and cattle favour this area for grazing.

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