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Alice Holt Forest

7.46 miles (12 km)

Ordnance Survey Map Open Streetmap Explore the peaceful Alice Holt Forest on this pleasant circular route in Farnham. The trail makes use of National Cycle routes 224 and 22 which run through the forest.
The route starts and finshes at Bentley rail station and follows the tracks through the forest, before returning along a lovely quiet country lane, giving splendid views of the surrounding Hampshire countryside.
The path also passes Birdworld with its 26 acres of wildlife including Maribou Stork, Sunbirds, Penguins, Owls, Parrots, Waterfowl and flamingos.
This trail is also suitable for walkers although you may wish to return to Bentley rail on one of the forest trails rather than along the country lanes.
To extend your exercise you could head towards the worthy village of Tilford and visit Frensham Ponds where there's some fine waterside trails around the two large ponds.
Just to the east there are more nice woodland trails in Bourne Woods, site of Ridley Scott's Robin Hood Film set from his 2010 film starring Russell Crowe.

Postcode

GU10 4LS - Please note: Postcode may be approximate for some rural locations

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Alice Holt Forest OS Map Ordnance survey map - Mobile GPS OS Map with Location tracking

Alice Holt Forest Open Street Map Open Streetmap - Mobile GPS Map with Location tracking

Pubs/Cafes

Head to the on site Alice Holt Cafe for some refreshments after your exercise. There's a lovely, large outdoor seating area where you can relax and enjoy a good range of meals and snacks.
Another nice idea is to head about a mile east of the woods and visit the The Frensham Ponds Hotel. There's a very fine, waterside outdoor seating area with good views over the pond. It's a great place to enjoy afternoon tea surrounding by beautiful scenery.

Dog Walking

The wide tracks in the expansive woods are a great place to go exploring with your dog. The cafe mentioned above is also dog friendly.

Further Information and Other Local Ideas

In nearby Bordon there's the Hogmoor Inclosure to explore. The area has lots of family activities with woodland walking and cycling paths plus a sculpture trail.
For cyclists National Cycle Route 22 runs through the forest. The signed Sustrans trail runs from Banstead through Surrey, Hampshire and the North Downs to Portsmouth on the south coast.

Photos

Alice Holt Forest - geograph.org.uk - 383144

Alice Holt Forest. Track south of Alice Holt Lodge Research Station. The wood is mainly coniferous trees and sandy tracks.

Shipwrights Way in the Alice Holt Forest - geograph-3694985

Shipwrights Way long distance footpath in the Forest

Track in Alice Holt Forest - geograph.org.uk - 383155

Holly is growing by the bridleway through the mixed forest.

Lodge Pond, Alice Holt Forest - geograph.org.uk - 15121

Lodge Pond. Some nice waterside trails in this tranquil area

Direction Sign at Alice Holt Forest - geograph.org.uk - 1431916

Direction Sign at the forest. This is in the car park close to the visitor centre which can be seen through the trees

The visitor centre at Alice Holt forest - geograph.org.uk - 15123

People sit outside on the tables at the visitor centre. This ancient forest is famous for its oak trees which once supplied timber for navy ships. Recently Alice Holt oak has been used to build a replica of Shakespeare's Globe theatre in London.

Video

GPS Files

GPX File

Alice Holt Forest.gpx (On Desktop:Right Click>Save As. On Ipad/Iphone:Click and hold>Download Linked File)

Memory Map Route

Alice Holt Forest.mmo (On Desktop:Right Click>Save As. On Ipad/Iphone:Click and hold >Download Linked File)