New Forest Short Walks - Walks from Lyndhurst

This walk crosses Lyndhurst’s old Race Ground, and skirts the Golf Course.

After leaving the village centre, this walk crosses an extensive area of grassland that is a magnet for commoners’ ponies and cattle. Until around 1880 it was the site of Lyndhurst’s race ground. Indeed, the adjacent road is still called Racecourse View. And from 1922 until after the Second World War, the New Forest pony sales and accompanying fair were held here.

Beyond the race ground, the route skirts Lyndhurst’s golf course, which was opened in 1890 on part of the race ground, and then passes alongside a narrow band of alder carr.

Woodland birds can be relied upon to brighten the walk. Listen for the year-round ringing calls of nuthatches as these dapper creatures clamber up trunks and boughs. Great spotted and green woodpeckers are also prominently present, whilst tiny, lesser spotted woodpeckers tend to be far less conspicuous.

Siskins and redpolls both breed locally, but are more often seen and heard feeding amongst the river-side alders; whilst buzzards increasingly soar high above the grasslands, or find vantage points on which to perch.

Fallow deer and roe deer emerge at dusk to feed on the edge of the golf course, and foxes can sometimes be seen, too, particularly in spring when hungry cubs encourage parents to hunt through much of the day.