Parking
Start and finish beside the Green Dragon and Bell Inn in Brook (SO43 7HE). Public parking at the Brook start is not established; Rufus Stone car park is a shorter-walk access, not the full loop.
Overview
About Brook to Minstead
Why go
- Rufus Stone and Minstead Church add history to a varied country walk.
- Mostly gentle gradients on a full half-day circuit.
Heads up
- Five stiles and muddy grassy tracks can slow you after rain.
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the New Forest map
Full mapElevation45–108 m
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
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
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
New Forest Tour Guide
Your drive to Brook to Minstead, 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 trailhead
Brook to Minstead Walk0:00 / 0:20
“You're coming up on Brook, the start of a loop to Minstead through woods, fields and lanes. It links Rufus Stone and Minstead's church, but I'd choose it for a half day on foot, not as a quick way to see either site.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf New Forest Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- A Flash of Green on the Heath
- A New Pair Every Year
- Three Lives of Malwood Ridge
- Rufus Stone
- 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!!!!”
Trail guide
Hiking Brook to Minstead
What this walk linksBrook to Minstead is a 7.2-mile (11.
Brook to Minstead is a 7.2-mile (11.6 km) loop from the Green Dragon and Bell Inn in Brook through Pipers Copse and Minstead, returning through Canterton. Allow about 3½ hours. It is an easy half-day walk of woods, fields and lanes; take it for the Rufus Stone and village stops rather than a big summit.
From Brook to MinsteadLeave Brook past cottages and through Pipers Copse; lanes climb to the Rufus Stone via the Sir…
Leave Brook past cottages and through Pipers Copse; lanes climb to the Rufus Stone via the Sir Walter Tyrrell pub. A gravel cycle track and underpass lead toward Furzey Gardens, then the way drops through beech woods and over boardwalks and footbridges before climbing into Minstead. At All Saints Church, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is buried in the grounds. Visit the village green before returning by field edges and lanes through Canterton. The Rufus Stone marks the traditional, disputed site of William II’s death in 1100.
Before you set offFive stiles, gates, a ford and footbridges break up the walk, and grassy paths can be very…
Five stiles, gates, a ford and footbridges break up the walk, and grassy paths can be very muddy. The directions give a road alternative near Furzey Gardens in wet conditions. Public parking at Brook is not confirmed; Rufus Stone car park suits a shorter walk only. Pubs are listed at Brook, Upper Canterton and Minstead, but opening details are not established.
Wildlife
Wildlife in New Forest
28 sightingsRed DeerMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
10 sightingsWhite-tailed EagleMost seen around 10 AMSighting map
14 sightingsHarbor SealMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
176 sightingsEuropean Fallow DeerMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
93 sightingsWestern Roe DeerMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
54 sightingsMute SwanMost seen around 6 PMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across New Forest. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
