We love visiting new places with our dogs and so decided we'd talk about what places we love to visit with the pack. Today, we went to a place we've only been to once before to explore a bit more of it as it's quite big and there's lot's to see; Bramshill Forest and Castle Bottom!
From where we have been, we haven't been able to find a car park although there are quite a few lay by's where you can park up safely to get into the woods, you just need to make sure your dog is on lead as you cross the road or are walking near it.
We started off at the entrance to Bramshill Forest about 5 mins from Bramshill Quarry, there is a section to your right which is quite regularly used by the quarry staff and then crossing the road to the left is the entrance to Bramshill Forest where you can walk through tracks throughout the quarry or off into the woodland beside.
When you get to the entrance you can go straight on which is through the tracks through the quarry, the sides are fenced off to make sure people and dogs aren't wondering onto the quarry land but there are lots of tracks through the quarry land and forest where your dogs can be off lead and it's a lovely walk!
This time we turned left down a little track towards the woods which leads to a place called Castle Bottom which we wanted to explore more this time! Castle Bottom is a National Nature Reserve so dogs must be on lead walking through this this area as there are ground nesting birds, lots of wildlife and they also have a small herd of wild Exmoor ponies living on the land.
In Castle Bottom there are lots of different tracks around the land to explore, you are asked to stick to these because of the wildlife but with so many tracks to go through you really are spoilt for choice. The land is beautiful and you can hear and see loads of different wildlife as you go around. The paths are very clear and most are fairly wide, when you start venturing off the big tracks and onto the smaller one there are some narrower ones and even a few wooden steps and bridges but it's all very well maintained and easy to navigate. We hardly see people inside Castle Bottom itself and actually haven't seen any other people walking dogs through which was a surprise as it's a lovely area and even though they have to be on lead for that part, it's still a lovely walk. There are a few places you can sit on some benches and enjoy the scenery and if you're lucky you may get a glimpse of the wild Exmoor ponies herd going about their day too. They are beautiful ponies and I don't know about other people but I love seeing wild horses and ponies enjoying life in a natural home.
Coming out the other side of Castle Bottom leads you into another part of Bramshill Forest where dogs can be off lead and again, there is so much to explore and lot's of different tracks to follow! We decided today to follow a track around the outside of Castle Bottom, through the woods and then back round towards the quarry so the dogs could have some off lead time and play. There are also a lot of other entrances to Bramshill Forest where you can walk some other routes and explore other parts of the forest which we're going to explore some other days too, it really is a huge forest with lot's of places to explore!
If you're looking for somewhere different with some super quiet tracks where you can go off on your own adventure for a while, this is definitely for you. It's a lovely area with so much to explore and the dogs enjoyed exploring it as much as we did!
Bramshill Forest and Castle Bottom. Off Cooper's Hill, B3016, Eversley, Hook, RG27 0QA.