New Forest
Holm Hill walk
[The walking suggestions in this web site are merely to show you some nice, fairly short walks within the New Forest National Park, so you can enjoy the Forest at its best. The walks have been completed by me, and follow used walking tracks.
Disclaimer: I cannot and do not take responsibility for you getting lost, bogged down, chased by a pony or suffering any other unfortunate incident or accident while using material from my website!]
Holm Hill is in the Brockenhurst / Rhinefield area of the New Forest, and this walk takes you over some open heathland before entering a small area of woodland. The going is easy, with a mixture of sandy and gravel surfaces and no inclines to speak of, despite the name!
Holm Hill walk
- Car park (Whitefield Moor) location:
OS ref: SU275027 – GPS lat/long: 50.822,-1.612 - Approximate distance of Holm Hill walk:
Three miles - Allow (time):
an hour and a half. - Nearest pub/s:
Choice of several in nearby Brockenhurst village, or the Rhinefield House Hotel.
Important update: Regrettably the OS map excerpt previously shown for this walk can no longer be used on this website. The walk is doable without it, by following the directions and photos outlined below, but please take extra care. If you don’t feel confident about trying the walk without the map excerpt, please don’t!
You can buy our offline map by clicking here or the Pocket Guide Image.
I put together a handy downloadable pocket guide ebook containing all of the walks from this website plus many pages of fascinating facts, essential local tips and useful information regarding the New Forest. All of which is available for download in a completely ad free, mobile friendly format. Suitable for use in all smartphones, tablets and kindles etc. Save some ink and the hassle of printing by downloading the New Forest National Park Pocket Guide right here, the only one of it’s kind and found no where else!
Start the walk from Whitefield Moor car park; walk out of the car park and back to the road.
Directly opposite the car park entrance there is a small sandy track, with a couple of wooden dragon’s teeth posts on the roadside. Head on to this track and follow it through the heather.
After a very short distance this small track is crossed by a larger, more defined one running left-right. Turn right on to this bigger track and stay on it across the heathland.
Keep heading in this direction, ignoring any tracks joining yours, until you come to a very noticeable area of wetland, partially enclosed by a fence. Turn right immediately after the ‘bridge’, onto a narrower gravel track.
Follow this track, it bears left and goes uphill.
At some point up the hill you can look across to see the southern face of the Rhinefield House Hotel, visible through the trees across the heath.
The narrow track continues to climb slightly, and you’ll see a small area of woodland at the top of the hill, the track continues along the southern edge of this woodland.
As the trees start to thin out, the track you’re on continues westwards, but an even narrower track splits off to the right, going slightly downhill. Take this new track.
After a very short distance you’ll come to a definite crossroads, with a larger track running left-right. Turn right here, and continue on this wider track, a mixture of sand and gravel.
Stay on this definite track for a while, you’ll pass an isolated clump of pine trees on your right hand side. Keep going!
Shortly after the pine trees the path becomes more solid, and crosses the river over a wooden bridge. This is Ober Water, a typical New Forest stream.
Continue on the path and enter the inclosure ahead, through the 5-bar wooden gate.
Almost immediately after passing through the gate, you’ll see a second gate directly ahead of you. Walk towards it, but turn right at the crossroads which are just before this second gate.
Having turned right, stay on this wide Forestry Commission track through Clumber Inclosure. Depending on the state of the trees, you may or may not see the hotel on your left.
Keep on this track until you reach another 5-bar gate; go through this and cross the road, picking up the gravel track directly opposite.
Follow this track for 100m or so, and look out for a small path heading off to the right. It’s not always obvious, but it’s definitely there. Take it and head down through the woodland. Update: this is now fenced, so continue on the main gravel track until the next right turn!
Due to the above mentioned update, there’s no photo but after you’ve turned right off the main gravel track and walked through the trees, you’ll soon pick up the narrow gravel track that returns to the car park to the right.
In no time at all you’ll be approaching the Ober Water car park; walk into the car park and head diagonally across to your right.
Look for the very obvious long wooden bridge across Ober Water. Head for that and cross the river.
Follow the well defined gravel track parallel to the road. Stay on this, it will take you directly back to Whitefield Moor car park, and the start of the walk.
Explore Holm Hill walk from above, using satellite imagery; get to know the area before you try the walk!
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