Ober Water Trail
with Puttles Bridge & Whitefield Moor, Brockenhurst
On this walk, children will enjoy paddling in the stream, finding New Forest ponies and the ice-cream van that is usually in the car park.
There are lots of places you can enjoy a paddle on this walk at Puttles Bridge
The Basics
Time: 40 mins
Distance: 2.6 km / 1.6 miles
Terrain: Well maintained, gravelled paths, a section on smooth grassy moorland, wooden footbridges.
Pushchair: A pushchair should be able to make it around this route.
Dogs: Dogs are welcome on this walk, but please keep on leads if you encounter ponies.
Refreshments: Bring a blanket and have a picnic on the moor. An ice-cream van is usually in the car park.
Toilets: There are public toilets in the car park.
Public Transport: There is no public transport to this location.
Parking: Whitefield Moor car park on Rhinefield Road, free. Note that our sat nav wanted to direct us to Aldridge Hill campsite. Do not turn here, but instead turn into the car park further along the large green space (Postcode: SO42 7QD - W3W: ///ideas.dinner.ascendant)
The banks of the Ober Water make a series of little ‘beaches’
This has to be one of the very best family walks in The New Forest. It is flat and well signposted. It also has multiple paddling locations, picnicking spots, an ice-cream van, ponies and toilets. It can be busy in the summer, so read on to find a lesser-known nearby paddling place you can easily walk to.
The Route
This walk is really easy to follow as there are coloured posts to guide you. The yellow and red routes begin at the car park and follow the same route initially, with the yellow route bringing you back to the car park sooner. Follow the path labelled ‘Ober Water Trail’ out of the car park to the west. The trail will very soon head into trees and bring you to Puttles Bridge. Children will want to play here in the water and you can have a picnic on the banks.
Cross the bridge and turn right, following the markers along the trail parallel to the water. You will walk through some tall pines and the river will be to your right.
The stream will widen at another wooden bridge with a bench. Children will also enjoy paddling here. For a shorter finish, follow the yellow markers straight back to the car park.
For the red route, don’t cross the bridge, but continue straight. You will walk through some beautiful woodland before coming to a third bridge marked with a red post. Turn right over the bridge and walk along an avenue of trees heading away from the water.
Look out for the red marker post on your right, which will direct you right to cross Whitefield Moor before returning to the car park.
Follow this if you would like a longer, there and back again extension to Bolderford Bridge, another great paddling location: Do not turn right over the bridge mentioned in section four. Instead, keep going through the woodland with the river to your right, picking the path that will keep you closest to the river. When you come to the entrance to Aldridge Hill campsite, turn right down the access track and cross the river. Turn left when you get to the lane and follow this to the barrier. Go around the barrier and continue in the same direction along the straight, gravelled cycle track. When you reach the trees at the other side, you will find the wide, shallow ford as well as grassy banks for picnics and a series of huge fallen trees that make super fun balance beams! Return the way you came. This extension will take you about 20 minutes in each direction. Pushchairs may find the first bit along the river to be rough so you could walk up to the lane via the bridge and avenue of trees mentioned in section four, and then turn left.
Did you know?
The wooden footbridge you will use to cross Ober Water is not actually Puttles Bridge. The bridge after which this walk is named is actually the road bridge.
If you enjoyed this walk…
…try the Tall Trees Trail where there is also a stretch of river that children can paddle in.
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