Poole Harbour Trails
A 40-mile long-distance path in Dorset making a full circuit around Poole Harbour, the largest natural harbour in the British Isles. With map, statistics, and GPX route file.
Statistics and Files
Grid Ref: SZ 009 902
Distance: 40 miles (64 km)
Time: 16–20 hours
Duration: 3–4 days
Ordnance Survey Explorer Maps (1:25,000):
OL15 Purbeck and South Dorset
118 Shaftesbury and Cranborne Chase
Summary
Poole Harbour is the largest natural harbour in the British Isles and possibly the second largest in the world. Surrounding it is stunning countryside rich in wildlife, alongside many attractive towns and villages.
A community project led by local walkers Peter Strudwick and Bernard Corby conceived a series of trails which, when linked together, provide a continuous circular walking route around the harbour (though completing the full circuit requires a ferry crossing from Sandbanks to Studland). From the nominal starting point of the trail at Poole Marina, places and points of interest visited include Sandbanks, Studland, Rempstone Heath, Hartland Moor National Nature Reserve, Middlebere Heath, Stoborough Heath National Nature Reserve, Wareham, Lytchett Minster, Ham Common, Upton Country Park, and Holes Bay.