Cadman's Pool

• The official route is an Access for All easy circular around the pool: 0.3 mile, roughly 10 to 15 minutes at a gentle pace.
• It is circular, family friendly and dog friendly, with pool views most of the way and a broad gravel area at the water's edge that makes an obvious picnic or pause spot.
• Longer walks head off from here into the surrounding woodland and heath, but those are separate, much bigger outings. The poolside loop itself is short and flat in character.

Expect the chance of ducks, geese and other waterfowl, and free-roaming ponies and donkeys in the wider forest. Nothing is guaranteed on any given visit, so treat sightings as a bonus.

• Keep your distance from ponies, donkeys and forest pigs, and do not feed them.
• The water is deep in places. Watch children closely near the edge, especially on the gravel margin.
• Keep dogs under control around livestock and nesting birds.

• Parking is the only facility here: the small gravel car park beside the pool, with about 5 spaces and no accessible spaces, and no toilets on site. Plan for facilities elsewhere.
• After rain the ground gets wet and muddy, so bring boots or shoes you do not mind ruining.
• With only five spaces, a quiet weekday or an earlier visit is the sensible plan if you want to be sure of a place.
• Bring water, a picnic and a bin bag for your rubbish.

It is genuinely modest: one small pool, one short loop, no facilities. Wet weather turns the paths soft and messy, and the five-space car park leaves little margin if those places are already taken. Come for a calm half hour, not a full outing.

Local history, told lightly: the pool was created in the 1960s and is said to take its name from a Forest deputy surveyor who had it made to improve the look of the landscape. It is a nice detail, not a historic attraction.