SO41 5RA SZ 3398 9826 East of Lymington ,on Beaulieu Road. Buses go past the entrance and the stop is just at the Norley crossroads just beyond it. On the very boundary of the New
SO41 5RA SZ 3398 9826 East of Lymington ,on Beaulieu Road.
Buses go past the entrance and the stop is just at the Norley crossroads just beyond it.
On the very boundary of the New Forest National Park, just outside Lymington, is Bull Hill car park. Often quite empty, this is a good place for a quick dog walk and stroll. If you wish to go for a proper trek then carry on past the farmhouse and camping field and cross the Pilley road onto the heath. This eventually leads to Crockford and provides a boggy space to explore and enjoy far-reaching views.
The paths from Bull Hill car park are somewhat unclear – there is some scrubby woodland at the rear and beyond the gorse bushes a large “arena” , which is a disused old clay pit surrounded by trees and banks. In the past commoners could take the clay for their own use.
Popular with new Forest donkeys, who love to nibble the gorse, and blackberries when they are out, there are also often New Forest ponies and a little group of Shetland ponies sometimes frequenting this patch too.
This is a quite popular place for me for a quick run for our collie – she especially likes it in the winter when the pit area is flooded and she can have a paddle too! After the ice melted in early 2023 the whole open area was still under water some weeks later. The car park is also a good starting point for a longer walk across onto the heath – beware of the area beyond where the cattle roam to the left as the bog is quite deceptively deep in places, even in summer! Look out for the tree with a good bunch of mistletoe…