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3 things to note before you start the walk...
1. This walk suggestion must not be taken as any kind of official New Forest walking guide.
2. Walkers using these pages must be responsible for their own safety and awareness.
3. www.new-forest-national-park.com or its owner take absolutely no responsibility for anyone following this walk suggestion, or for using any information whatsoever from the website.
Acres Down is a pretty area of the New Forest, very near to the rural hamlet of Minstead, a charming place with a picture-postcard village green and a great pub, the Trusty Servant.
The Acres Down walk is a short one, around an hour, and takes you through a good mix of forested pine and Ancient and Ornamental Woodland. The lane to Acres Down car park is narrow and has a ford, which can get deep after heavy rain.
Acres Down walk:
[Map excerpts: left, the approximate location of the walk within the National Park. Below, OS 1:25000]
Acres Down car park OS grid reference: 267098
Approximate distance of this walk: 2 1/2 miles
Allow (time): an hour at a relaxed pace.
Nearest pub/s: The Trusty Servant in the centre of Minstead village, or the New Forest Inn at Emery Down, a couple of miles to the west.
The walk...
The start of the walk is obvious from the car park, follow the main Forestry Commission track beyond the barrier.
After a quarter of a mile or so, the track winds around an area of grass and immediately afterwards forks. Take the right hand fork, even though the main track carries straight on.
Point 'A' on the map excerpt.
Follow this track through Highland Water Inclosure. A few hundred metres after taking the right hand fork, the track forks again. This time, keep on the main track to the left.
Point 'B' on the map excerpt.
The track continues up a gentle hill, bears right and then sharp left as it levels out. There's a crossroads at the top, just keep walking straight on. You'll pass by some huge larch trees shortly afterwards, conspicuous by their bright green needles.
The track begins a gentle decline and bears round to the left - a track joins in from the right here, and the cleared area on the right gives a good view over Highland Water Inclosure.
Point 'C' on the map excerpt.
Continue down until the track you are on bears sharply to the right, at the bottom of the hill. Turn left here, and take the track through the Ancient & Ornamental Woodlands.
Point 'D' on the map excerpt.
Stay on this track back to the car park, the distance from the junction where you turned left, to the car park, is just under a mile. You'll recognise the very first right fork that you took, and the track looping around the open area of grass.
For a good New Forest viewpoint, walk up the hill in front of the 2 car parking areas before you leave, and look over the heath of Acres Down and Highland Water Inclosure.