Camping in the New Forest

The New Forest has been a working common since William I enclosed it as a royal hunting ground in 1079, and the medieval commoners’ rights are still exercised today — which is why some 5,000 ponies, cattle and pigs wander freely across roads, heath and, frequently, campsites.

For families and first-time campers it is close to ideal: level ground, short distances, no navigation required and a national park you can genuinely explore by bicycle.

Camping among the ponies

Most of the large campsites here sit inside the open forest with no fences, so animals walk through the pitches. Do not feed them — it is illegal, it makes them aggressive around food, and it draws them onto roads. Keep food packed away and pitch clear of the main animal tracks.

The forest speed limit is 40 mph and animals are killed on these roads every year. Drive slowly after dark.

Cycling and walking

Around a hundred miles of gravel and waymarked cycle track cross the forest, almost all of it flat, with hire shops in Brockenhurst, Burley and Lyndhurst. The Brockenhurst–Burley–Bolderwood loop is the standard day out.

On foot, the Ornamental Drive at Bolderwood and the ancient oaks and beeches of the Knightwood and Mark Ash inclosures show the forest at its oldest.

The coast

The forest runs down to the Solent. Lepe and Calshot look across to the Isle of Wight, and Milford-on-Sea gives you the Needles on the horizon and a shingle spit out to Hurst Castle. It is a twenty-minute drive from woodland pitch to sea.