Parking
Hanger Farm Arts Centre; the route leaflet lists on-site parking. Walker access when the venue is closed was not confirmed.
Overview
About Tatchbury Mount
Why go
- Walks a surviving droveway beside Iron Age earthworks.
- The hillfort view reaches Southampton Docks over Lower Test Marshes.
Heads up
- A busy road crossing and several suburban turns break the quiet.
- Parts can be severely muddy; most of the hillfort is private.
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the New Forest map
Full mapElevation17–58 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 Tatchbury Mount, 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
Two Ages on Tatchbury Mount0:00 / 0:26
“Near Tatchbury Mount, a public path skirts the banks of an Iron Age hillfort. They once enclosed a hilltop about the size of two and a half football pitches.”
Plays on the road 0.6 km from the trailhead in the Parkwolf New Forest Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Where the Forest Show Began
- The Village No One Can Find
- The Apple That Isn't Fruit
- The Finch That Feeds Upside 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 Tatchbury Mount
The routeThis 3-mile (4.
This 3-mile (4.8 km) loop starts at Hanger Farm Arts Centre, crosses the edge of Totton, and follows fields and Tatchbury Copse to the Iron Age earthworks at Tatchbury Mount. The route shares its opening access section on the return. Its rewards are the old droveway, the hillfort banks and a far view across Lower Test Marshes toward Southampton Docks.
Underfoot and around the hillfortExpect suburban pavement and several turns first, including a busy crossing of Michigan Way,…
Expect suburban pavement and several turns first, including a busy crossing of Michigan Way, then the bypass underpass and a broad droveway. In Tatchbury Copse, banks and ditches flank the old track. The path skirts the hillfort’s southern earthworks; most of the site is private, so stay on public rights of way. Farmland opens above Netley Marsh before the route drops beside oak field boundaries. The ground is mostly level with shallow to medium inclines, but gates, short stiles and narrow wooden footbridges break the walk. Parts can become extremely muddy. Spring brings bluebells and other woodland flowers.
Before you set outAllow about 2 hours for the full circuit.
Allow about 2 hours for the full circuit. Hanger Farm Arts Centre is the marked start, with parking listed on site; whether walkers can use the lot while the venue is closed is unclear. The centre’s café is a separate stop at the start, not along the route.
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.
