Parking
Start and finish at Burbush Car Park, Burley, Ringwood, BH24 4EF. Follow the path from the car park to the old railway bed.
Overview
About Burbush Walk
Why go
- Railway relics and a small hill circuit fit into an easy hour-long walk.
Heads up
- The railway path is shared with cyclists.
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the New Forest map
Full mapElevation45–70 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 Burbush Walk, 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
Burbush Walk0:00 / 0:25
“You're coming up on Burbush Car Park, the start of a two-mile loop along an old railway line and over Shappen Hill.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf New Forest Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- How Burley Took Shape
- Burley Village
- A Country House for Young People
- Where the Cattle Go
- 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 Burbush Walk
A short forest circuitBurbush Walk is a 2-mile circular from Burbush Car Park, following part of the former…
Burbush Walk is a 2-mile circular from Burbush Car Park, following part of the former Brockenhurst–Ringwood railway bed before looping over Shappen Hill and returning to the start. Allow about an hour for this easy New Forest walk. It suits a short outing with a little railway history in it; free-roaming ponies may be nearby, though sightings are not guaranteed.
From the rail bed to Shappen HillLeave the car park by the path to the old track-bed and follow it past a brick bridge and…
Leave the car park by the path to the old track-bed and follow it past a brick bridge and gateposts beneath yew trees at Shappen Crossing. Turn north over the causeway through reedbeds, then climb to Shappen Hill. Keep left at the fork and follow the broad track as it dips through a small valley, rises over another low hill and drops back to the railway. Much of the route is easy to follow; cyclists also use the rail path. The line was part of the Southampton & Dorchester Railway, opened in 1847. Foundations beneath the yews mark Shappen Crossing; a local account says it mainly served stock, including ponies, pigs and cattle.
Make the short circuit workStart and finish at Burbush Car Park, Burley, Ringwood, BH24 4EF. Dogs are welcome.
Start and finish at Burbush Car Park, Burley, Ringwood, BH24 4EF. Dogs are welcome. The optional southbound spur to Whitten Pond is not part of this circuit and can get very boggy, so stay on the described loop for the easier outing.
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.
