Adventures that take you into the great outdoors, including adventures in woodland, rivers, nature reserves and also play areas with access to nature.
Zebon Copse is very special for me – it’s the place that inspired me to start this website way back in 2016! The boardwalk was wonderfully overgrown and felt more like exploring a hidden jungle path than taking your children for a walk, as you can see from this photo.
Climbing the Zig-Zag path to Selbourne Common feels like ascending to a magical woodland world, hidden away in the treetops from everyone but you. Selbourne Common is
With sandy paths galore, James Bond connections and World War 2 remnants, Hankley Common is full of surprises. Hankley Common has beautiful
What would you discover if you “took a stroll through a deep dark wood”? In Alice Holt Forest, it could be almost anything – play trails, cycle tracks, table tennis, adventure play
Playwood Adventure Play Area has a woodland theme with a log cabin and a wooden climbing frame built to look like trees and logs. The perfect place for the Gruffalo to hide…
Timberline Adventure Play Area is a huge obstacle course that is a fun place to play The Floor is Lava. It is hidden away in Alice Holt Forest, about a five minute walk from
Today I found out that the Dragonfly Trail along the Thursley Common boardwalk has been rebuilt and is open! At its best, there is something almost primeval
One of the surprises hiding along the Basingstoke Canal are flashes – one minute you are walking along a narrow canal and the next, a beautiful lake known as a flash.
This beautiful walk along the Basingstoke Canal has the added bonus of three play areas, three locks and plenty of ducks! Section 5 of the Basingstoke Canal
Don’t be fooled by the Basingstoke Canal Centre’s unassuming appearance – it’s a convenient gateway to the beautiful Basingstoke Canal, complete
Arguably the most interesting stretch of the Basingstoke Canal, this walking or cycle route takes you past 11 of the huge locks that lift the canal 100 feet in just 2 miles
As well as all the activities on offer, the Basingstoke Canal Centre has a small wooden play area with a circular obstacle course. You can also walk along the
Lakeside Nature Reserve Play Area is an adventure play area on the edge of Lakeside Nature Reserve, which also has brass rubbing posts, lakes, an orchid
Hidden around Lakeside Nature Reserve are brass rubbing posts, lakes, an orchid meadow, woodland, and an adventure play area. You can also find the Basingstoke
A cheeky boggart and some wood and water nymphs are just some of the creatures waiting to meet you along the Blackwater Valley Path. You may also spot fish, butterflies
This stretch of the Blackwater Valley Path offers clear views of the tree-lined river and some colourful graffiti, if you will brave its puddled paths. This section is 2 miles
Section 4 of the Blackwater Valley Path follows the river’s route along the busy A331 dual carriageway. Unfortunately, you tend to be more aware of the road than the river.
Stumbling across a canal flowing over a bridge is one of the biggest surprises I have had on a local walk! The Ash Aqueduct and three play areas all wait along Section 3
Along the Blackwater are patches where you can find four and even five leaf clovers. These are very rare so be sure to only give one to someone you love very much!
The Blackwater begins in the tranquil Rowhill Nature Reserve and so does the Blackwater Valley Path, which winds with the river, past the source, waterfalls and bridges
The Blackwater Valley Path follows the River Blackwater from its boggy source in Aldershot to its end at the River Loddon in Swallowfield, near Reading. Along the way are
Rowhill Nature Reserve hides the source of the River Blackwater amongst charismatically named areas like Stickleback Pond, Rhododendron
Rowan Field is unusual – a nature reserve split in half by the A331. On the other side of the dual carriageway is Shawfields, an area of ancient meadow. Rowan Field
The Hawley Meadows Story Trail is a series of short stories about wood nymphs, water nymphs and a cheeky boggart. It is called “The Story of the Nymphs and the Boggart“
According to the information boards, Hawley Meadows gives an impression of how the Blackwater Valley would have looked 100 years ago. It must have been
A Stone Age quarry hides in the deepest parts of Shere Woodlands. Tracking it down was one of those wild occasions where I began to feel like an explorer…
Beautifully situated Petersfield Heath Play Area has it all – a pondside play area with a cafe, plenty of ducks to feed, a circular walk past ancient monuments
There is something magical about Shere Woodlands. Maybe it’s the paths that twist past old, gnarled trees, secret hideouts and quiet copses. Maybe it’s the stone
Hidden along the banks of the River Test, Stockbridge Common Marsh is a tranquil spot for a picnic, paddle and walk. As you enter, you pass a sign that says ‘The Lions Den’
Some say that on a clear day you can see eight counties from the top of St Martha’s Hill! I am not sure about that but the views are picturesque and we did
Sitting next to the River Wey, The Phillips Memorial Park has a wooden play area, a field, skate park and also a riverside walk. The play equipment includes a multiplay
Are you brave enough to step back in time to 1832 and help a salt farmer trap a sea monster? If so, The Story of Salterns, Sea Monsters and Saving the Day
For hundreds of years, people have used the coastal lagoons of The Solent to trap sea water and create salt. Today some can be see at the Lymington-Keyhaven Nature
A walk to St Catherine’s Hill involves the River Wey, bridges, a lock, a sacred spring and water meadows. St Catherine’s Hill used to be called Drakehull (or Dragon Hill)
At the bottom of Waggoners Wells – beyond the blue pools, waterfall and giant fish – is an old wishing well that is said to have inspired Tennyson and Flora Thompson.
Of all the places I have explored, Shoulder of Mutton Hill is my favourite – it’s also the place I visit most often. I love the climb, I love the views and I love the
In 1822, William Cobbett was surprised to discover Wheatham Hill, “…out we came, all in a moment, at the very edge of the hanger! And never, in all my life, was I so surprised and
There is a magical patch of wild at the foot of Lutcombe Bottom that is easier to access than the rest of the Ashford Hangers. This area has a shallow stream,
The mesmerizing Mill Lane Waterfall roars down a hill and under the road where it pools as the slow flowing Ashford Stream. You can walk to the waterfall
There are two places to play at Polesden Lacey – Kestrel Corner Play Area and the play areas scattered amongst the trees lining the paths. Kestrel Corner Play Area
Once described as a ‘delicious house’ by the Queen Mother, Polesden Lacey is a gorgeous place to spend a day, with plenty of places to play and picnic.
Normandy Common is a series of mini-adventures all within easy reach of Normandy Common Play Area. Will you try street snooker or table tennis? Will you
I have always loved the idea of finding a secret garden, so you can imagine how excited I was to stumble across a secret orchard on Normandy Common. And it’s not just
Frensham Little Pond is a picturesque place for a paddle and a pond dip, surrounded by the fresh scent of pine, sandy beaches and Frensham Common.
Frensham Common is an area of open and airy heathland with woods, beautiful viewpoints and two popular ponds – Frensham Great Pond and Frensham
With not one but two sandy beaches you can swim and paddle from, it’s easy to see why Frensham Great Pond is a popular local spot to cool off on a hot day.
Wellington watches over the start of Wellesley Woodlands’ brass rubbing trail, which leads you through the woods to 10 different posts and a WW1 firing wall complete
It’s surprisingly hard to work out where the source of the Thames is. Is it bubbling Lyd Well? The marker stone in Trewsbury Mead? Or Seven Springs, some 14 miles
Our challenge was to find the source of the Thames. We began at Buscot Lock, walking upstream to the river’s last lock and the statue of Old Father Thames,
Land Ahoy! Obelisk Lawn Play Area has a shipwreck theme with all things nautical – ships, rigging, sand and a crow’s nest. It’s an atmospheric but small