The advent of Lockdown 2.0 put paid to the planned Greensand Way grand finale (fingers crossed for December), but the lure of Kent was too much. Or at least the menfolk had hatched a plan to throw themselves down steep slopes on bikes for the day, so I tagged along to take in the autumnal glory of Bedgebury Forest and National Pinetum.
If you're into trees, and conifers in particular, this is the place to be. The forest is spectacular at this time of year and the National Pinetum that is 'housed' within Bedgebury also richly rewards a visit right now.
The forest as a whole is a gift for those inclined to the outdoors (or indeed those who want out of the house during lockdown!). It boasts 3 walking trails, 3 cycling trails (including a load of very muddy 'red routes' and a 'black route' for mountain bikes which was the primary attraction for the rest of the fam), 4 orienteering trails, waymarked running routes, Go Ape (closed right now, obvs), a load of play areas and, for fans of the Gruffalo (and who isn't), a trail to find seven Gruffalo sculptures hidden amongst the trees!
There are six mapped walking trails at Bedgebury, all well waymarked, ranging from easy access, mindful strolls around 1.5 miles in length, to more challenging 3-4 milers. You can download maps for all of these.
You can of course ignore the trails and go wondering around the 128 acre forest as you see fit. There are plenty of well surfaced 'forest roads' to follow and many tracks and trails over grass and through the trees. Keep an eye out for cycle track waymarks so you don't accidentally wander onto a fast moutain bike trail and get ploughed down! These are generally very clear but the tracks aren't specifically closed to walkers.
The forest has excellent links into surrounding footpaths and as previous readers of this blog will know, Kent is an exemplar county for decent waymarking. Nevertheless a map is recommended to ensure you don't end up walking all the way to Tenterden!
I took a bit of a hybrid approach, taking in a bit of the 'Hidden secrets of the Pinetum at Bedgebury' trail before heading out onto footpaths on the surrounding farmland and looping back round onto the main 'family cycling' route in the south of the forest and back to the car park (and cafe!).
I covered 12.5km (6-and-a-bit miles) in 2.5 hours; this is relatively slow going for me, mostly because of very muddy going underfoot in some areas. Very slippy! Boots or even wellies recommended (unless you're reading this in July, in which case you'll probably be OK). The whole route was a riot of autumnal colour, even on an overcast day
All round a great way to keep the whole family happy, including the resident walkers. For a day out its reasonably cheap; the car park is £13 for the whole day, which obviously supports the upkeep of the forest and its amenities. There's also excellent toilet and cafe facilities which remain suprisingly well equipped depsite Covid restrictions. We had hog roast for lunch!
Here's the map of my walk.
Comments