Landford and Hamptworth Walk

Overview

About Landford and Hamptworth Walk

Why go

Huge beeches and a sunken woodland track
A varied mix of farmland, lanes and woods

Heads up

Gates and stiles interrupt the easy gradients
Farm and golf-course tracks make up part of the circuit

Landford and Hamptworth is an easy 4.75-mile loop from the Methodist Chapel bus stop, crossing farmland and short lanes on its way to Langley Wood. Allow about 2½ hours. Gentle gradients and a changing mix of fields, woods and lanes make it a good half-day country walk; the payoff is old woodland and farm country rather than a big viewpoint.

Parkwolf’s verdictIs this the walk for you?

Map & elevation

The route

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Full map

Elevation34–84 m

TrailheadMethodist Chapel bus stop, Landford50.97422, -1.63833

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Plan your hike

Before you go

Parking

Start at the Methodist Chapel bus stop on Lyndhurst Road, Landford. Route notes also list a nearby bus-stop lay-by and the primary school outside school hours; the lay-by grid reference conflicts with the route-start reference, so verify its location before parking there.

Safety

The route includes farm gates and stiles, a footbridge and a ford. Keep dogs on a lead through North Common Farm.

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 Landford and Hamptworth 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

Landford and Hamptworth Walk

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“You're approaching Landford, the start of the Landford and Hamptworth walk. This nearly five-mile loop takes you through quiet farm country and into Langley Wood, where huge beeches rise above a sunken track.”

Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf New Forest Tour Guide.

Hiking Landford and Hamptworth Walk

The route through the woodsA wooded track leads to a ford, with a footbridge for the crossing, then the route passes Home…

A wooded track leads to a ford, with a footbridge for the crossing, then the route passes Home Farm and the golf course before crossing the River Blackwater. In Langley Wood, look for huge beeches and the sunken, tree-lined track. Old banks and ditches mark former coppice enclosures. Langley was part of a group of royal forests until the 16th century, when it returned to farmland and landscaped parkland. The loop continues through North Common Farm and past Landford Lodge and the Cuckoo Inn before retracing the opening path.

Before you set offThere are farm gates and stiles as well as the footbridge and ford, so expect a few awkward…

There are farm gates and stiles as well as the footbridge and ford, so expect a few awkward crossings. Keep dogs on a lead through North Common Farm. Start and finish at the Methodist Chapel bus stop on Lyndhurst Road. Route notes also mention a nearby lay-by and school parking outside school hours, but the lay-by grid reference conflicts with the route-start reference; confirm its location before relying on it.

Wildlife

Wildlife in New Forest

All New Forest wildlife maps

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 map

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