Parking
Sea Road Car Park beside Milford on Sea village centre (SO41 0PH).
Overview
About Milford on Sea Loop
Why go
- The open spit looks across the Solent toward the Needles and Isle of Wight.
- One circuit mixes Sturt Pond, shingle coast, marsh edges and Keyhaven.
Heads up
- Loose shingle makes the full route tiring despite its low elevation.
Map & elevation
The route
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 Milford on Sea 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 area
Keyhaven and Hurst Castle0:00 / 0:40
“You're approaching Keyhaven, the starting point for Hurst Castle, which stands at the far end of a shingle spit, well beyond the village.”
Plays on the road 1.5 km from the trailhead in the Parkwolf New Forest Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- The Godwits That Meet Again
- The Tide Moves the Birds
- When Hurst Spit Moved
- The Butterfly That Glides
- 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 Milford on Sea Loop
A five-mile coastal loopMilford on Sea Loop is a 5-mile loop from Sea Road Car Park, usually about three hours.
Milford on Sea Loop is a 5-mile loop from Sea Road Car Park, usually about three hours. It starts beside the village, follows a gravel track past Sturt Pond and reaches the coast. For the full distance, walk the Hurst Spit stretch all the way to Hurst Castle and back; the figure includes that return along the same shingle ridge and the inland loop back through Keyhaven.
The shingle spitThe route stays low, but loose pebbles make the spit slower and more tiring than the map…
The route stays low, but loose pebbles make the spit slower and more tiring than the map suggests. Follow it to the castle at the point, then retrace your steps to Saltgrass Lane. The long coastal view opens across the Solent to the Needles and Isle of Wight. Turn back early on the spit if you want a shorter version of the loop.
A different way backSaltgrass Lane leads to a path beside Keyhaven Marshes; you pass the ferry landing and…
Saltgrass Lane leads to a path beside Keyhaven Marshes; you pass the ferry landing and boatyards, then return through Milford on Lower Pennington Lane and Keyhaven Road. Public toilets are listed at Sea Road and Keyhaven car parks. The Gun Inn is a nearby pub in Keyhaven, a separate stop. Dogs are welcome on the walk; keep them under control by Sturt Pond and on the marsh-side path. Hurst Castle asks visitors to keep dogs on a short lead.
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.
