Parking
Horseshoe Bottom Car Park on Burley Road, Brockenhurst (SO42 7UP); about 60 spaces, no accessible bays, and no toilets.
Overview
About Horseshoe Bottom Loop
Why go
- A varied easy circuit through grassland, heath, and woodland.
- The ridge opens views toward Brockenhurst.
Heads up
- No toilets at the starting car park.
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the New Forest map
Full mapElevation35–61 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 Horseshoe Bottom Loop, 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
Horseshoe Bottom Loop0:00 / 0:15
“You're approaching Horseshoe Bottom Car Park, the start of a short loop across heath and into woodland. Its grassy ridge opens the widest view toward Brockenhurst, so that's where I'd pause.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf New Forest Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Wilverley Plain
- Setthorns Woodland Loop
- The Snake You Rarely See
- The Bird Going Down
- 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 Horseshoe Bottom Loop
A short loop through the New ForestHorseshoe Bottom Loop is a 1.
Horseshoe Bottom Loop is a 1.8-mile (3 km) circuit from Horseshoe Bottom Car Park, usually about an hour. It crosses open grass and heath before climbing to a grassy ridge with views toward Brockenhurst, then drops into woodland and curves back to the start. It is a quick, easy walk for a taste of varied New Forest ground without committing to a longer day out.
The route underfootLeave the car park across the grass and follow the sandy-gravel track uphill through heath.
Leave the car park across the grass and follow the sandy-gravel track uphill through heath. At the ridge, turn right along the grassy top for the Brockenhurst view. The route then enters woodland, follows a track downhill and crosses a bridge; turn back before the second bridge to loop through open grass and heath to the start. Expect a climb, but not a strenuous hike. The ridge gives the route its widest view across the landscape.
Make it workStart at Horseshoe Bottom Car Park on Burley Road.
Start at Horseshoe Bottom Car Park on Burley Road. There are about 60 spaces, no accessible bays and no toilets. The loop is dog-friendly, but free-roaming animals share the open ground: give them room and do not touch or feed them. There are no food or water services on the route, so start stocked.
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.
