Pingo Trail and Thompson Common Walk

7.2 miles (11.6 km)

This circular walk follows the Pingo Trail around Thompson Common and Stow Heath near Thetford in the heart of The Brecks.
The route starts from the free car park on the western side of Caston Common.... It then traverses a landscape heavily shaped by periglacial activity from the last Ice Age. A key feature of the walk is the high concentration of pingos—shallow, water-filled craters formed over 10,000 years ago when underground ice cores melted and collapsed. The trail guides walkers through a mosaic of habitats, incorporating the unpaved tracks of Thompson Common Nature Reserve, the open maritime heathland of Stow Heath, and sections of the historic Peddars Way Roman road. The terrain is characteristically flat but can become very uneven and waterlogged, particularly near the active pond networks and low-lying mires.
The continuous presence of these ancient freshwater pools provides an uninterrupted habitat that supports several highly specialised and rare wildlife species. Thompson Common is famously one of the last strongholds for the northern pool frog, the UK's rarest native amphibian, which was successfully reintroduced to the site's pingos. The area is also nationally important for invertebrates; it supports over 600 beetle species and 19 breeding species of dragonfly and damselfly, including the scarce emerald damselfly. In the wetter flushes and surrounding woodland, walkers can observe unique flora such as water violet, alongside grazing traditional livestock like Konik ponies, which are used to manage the fragile Breckland heath.
To continue your walking in the area you could visit the nearby Lynford Arboretum or try the Lynford Stag Walk.