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Deerleap Viewpoint in New Forest National Park

Sight · New Forest National Park

Deerleap Viewpoint

Easy launch pad into open heath, woodland tracks and grazing ponies

Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Type
Sight
Nearest trail
2.1 km
Audio stories
13 nearby
  • Parking
DirectionsMap

Hear the audio tour

New Forest Wildlife Park

Overview

About Deerleap Viewpoint

Why stop

  • Open heath and woodland walks with several route choices
  • Roaming ponies and cattle add real New Forest character

Heads up

  • Busy around the car park at peak times
  • Paths can be muddy after rain
Deerleap works best as a starting point rather than a destination in itself. The Forestry England gravel car park sits beside Deerleap Inclosure on the edge of the forest, and the ground opens out into a large sweep of heath and grassland with woodland wrapped around it. If you want space and easy access to open forest without a long approach walk, this is a sensible place to leave the car.
Parkwolf’s verdictWhy stop here

Map

Where it is

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Full map
SightDeerleap Viewpoint50.88363, -1.49938
Keep this map with you offline in the Parkwolf app

Plan your stop

Before you go

Best time to go

The car park area can be popular, especially at weekends and over holidays, while walks tend to feel quieter further from the start. Tracks can be boggy outside summer and muddy after rain, with winter and early spring the most reliably wet stretch of the year. Boots are the safer choice for much of the year, and a dry spell makes the open ground far more pleasant.

1 active New Forest alert

  • CautionNew Forest outdoor-fire restrictionDo not use BBQs, campfires, stoves, outdoor camping equipment or other naked flames on the open Forest.Official details
New Forest alerts
A park ranger sits on a dash-mounted phone, talking, as Parkwolf’s Tour Guide plays “Army Cutworm Moths: A Grizzly Bear Buffet” on Grand Loop Road below Dunraven Pass in Yellowstone
Parkwolf Tour GuideThe highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.

New Forest Tour Guide

Your drive to Deerleap Viewpoint, narrated.

Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for New Forest National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.

Recorded for this area

New Forest Wildlife Park
0:00 / 0:37
“Up ahead is New Forest Wildlife Park, a compact woodland attraction where four kinds of otter are the stars. You'll also find European bison, wolves and Scottish wildcats.”

Plays on the road 0.3 km from Deerleap Viewpoint in the Parkwolf New Forest Tour Guide.

More stories near here in the app

  • Longdown Activity Farm
  • The Workhouse Land at Ashurst
  • Two Owls Make the Call
  • The Tiny Bird with an Eyebrow
  • 283 audio storiesacross New Forest’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
  • Wildlife heatmapsfor Red Deer, White-tailed Eagle, Harbor Seal, and 13 more
  • Works offlinemaps, 70 trails, 48 places, and audio download before you lose signal
  • CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
★★★★★
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
JMJamesApp Store review
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4.7 from 8,600+ ratings

Guide

More about Deerleap Viewpoint

What the walking is likePaths head off in several directions, with maintained gravel tracks near the car park giving…
  • Paths head off in several directions, with maintained gravel tracks near the car park giving way to rougher forest ground further out.
  • Streams run through the area, and the railway line and a railway bridge sit nearby, which helps with orientation.
  • One documented option is a roughly 4 mile (6.4 km) loop taking in a stream crossing, Fulliford Passage under the railway and King's Passage, returning over a railway bridge. Treat it as one route among several rather than the route.
  • Walkers also stretch it into a longer circular of about 6 miles towards Matley Wood if you want a fuller half day out.
Ponies, cattle and dogsPonies and cattle graze here regularly and roam freely across the forest, so you are walking…

Ponies and cattle graze here regularly and roam freely across the forest, so you are walking through their ground rather than watching from a distance. The official rule is plain: keep your distance, and do not feed or pet ponies or other forest animals. Deerleap has a reputation as a good dog walking spot, so expect to share paths, and keep dogs under close control around livestock.

Honest drawbacksNo toilets at the site, so sort that out before you arrive.
  • No toilets at the site, so sort that out before you arrive.
  • Visitor numbers cluster around the car park end of the walks.
  • Pony and cattle sightings are common here but not something to count on.
  • Mud can make some paths slow going for a good part of the year.
heathwoodlandwalkingwildlifeponiescyclingviewpoint

Wildlife

Wildlife in New Forest

All New Forest wildlife maps
Red Deer28 sightingsRed DeerMost seen around 7 AMSighting mapWhite-tailed Eagle10 sightingsWhite-tailed EagleMost seen around 10 AMSighting mapHarbor Seal14 sightingsHarbor SealMost seen around 7 PMSighting mapEuropean Fallow Deer176 sightingsEuropean Fallow DeerMost seen around 7 PMSighting mapWestern Roe Deer93 sightingsWestern Roe DeerMost seen around 7 AMSighting mapMute Swan54 sightingsMute SwanMost seen around 6 PMSighting map

Sighting maps show where each species has been reported across New Forest. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.

Keep exploring

Near Deerleap Viewpoint

See it all on the map

Trails nearby

EasyAshurst Stroll4.5 km · 1.5 hr · 2.1 km awayAn easy loop past oak woodland and Tudor saltpetre-house earthworksEasyCarters Lane4 km · 1.5 hr · 3 km awayA gentle loop through woodland, farm fields and old estate tracks.ModerateTatchbury Mount4.8 km · 2 hr · 4.3 km awayAn Iron Age hillfort, an old droveway and views across Netley Marsh.ModerateBolton’s Bench Loop5 km · 1.5 hr · 5.1 km awayShort circuit for heathland, ponies and a yew-topped hill.ModerateLyndhurst Parish Walk15.1 km · 4 hr · 5.5 km awayA parish-boundary loop through hamlets, heath and four old pubsEasyLyndhurst Village1.6 km · 1 hr · 5.5 km awayA village detour for churchyard history and a yew-topped hill.EasyCopythorne and Cadnam Common6.4 km · 2.5 hr · 7 km awayA quiet loop from heath glades to a narrow river footbridge.ModerateStanding Hat Loop5 km · 1.5 hr · 7 km awayA 3.1-mile woodland loop through Pignal Inclosure

More stops nearby

Sight · 0.4 km awayNew Forest Wildlife ParkWoodland trails with otters, wolves and bison, plus real conservation workSight · 1.3 km awayLongdown Activity FarmBottle-feed calves and kid goats, then explore the large play areaCampground · 2.1 km awayAshurst CampsiteStep off the train and pitch beneath ancient oaksCampground · 3 km awayMatley Wood CampsiteOff-grid pitches in quiet woodland clearings, walks straight from campCampground · 3.3 km awayDenny Wood CampsiteBack-to-basics woodland pitches among ferns, oaks and fallen treesSight · 5.1 km awayBolton's BenchAncient yews crown a small hill with wide heathland viewsSight · 5.4 km awayNew Forest Heritage CentreA free museum where 900 years of forest history unfoldsSight · 5.6 km awaySt Michael and All Angels' ChurchPre-Raphaelite glass, Leighton fresco and Alice Liddell's grave

Parkwolf’s New Forest ranking

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Take Parkwolf to New Forest.

The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.

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