Rhinefield House Tall Trees Walk

To reach the starting point for the walk, you turn off one of the New Forest's most famous avenues, Rhinefield Ornamental Drive. Originally a track leading to a forest lodge with grounds used as a tree nursery, the drive was planted in 1859 with an avenue of rare and imported conifers, shrubs, and rhododendrons. Today, these include statuesque giant redwoods and Douglas firs that outstrip most other species in the country.

The start of the walk takes you through the Blackwater Arboretum (planted in 1959–1960), featuring labelled young trees protected from deer by a 12-foot fence. Passing out of the arboretum, a wide gravel track leads down to the Blackwater River, named for its dark-hued water flowing under closely growing conifers. The woods are home to typical woodland birds (such as woodpeckers, nuthatches, and treecreepers), fallow, red, and roe deer, and occasional rare white fallow deer.

Gravel drives lead past a forest cottage and up to Rhinefield House. This aristocratic site once held hunting lodges for William the Conqueror and Charles II. The current mansion was built around 1890 by heiress Mabel Walker in a neo-Elizabethan style with Hampton Court-inspired chimneys. Now a hotel, it stands in formal gardens featuring clipped yew hedges, a maze, and a croquet lawn.

On leaving Rhinefield House, the path continues along a track lined with rhododendrons (spectacular in late May and early June) before returning to the car park. An optional 1.5-mile excursion from the north end of the car park allows you to admire the noble conifers along Rhinefield Drive and view a section of 1700-style enclosure fence built to keep commoners' stock away from growing trees.

Acknowledgment: Text derived from the Out and Out Series; Discovering the Countryside on Foot. Pictures courtesy of Wikipedia.