On this walk, children will enjoy the ship-wreck themed wooden play area and crabbing off the pontoon. There is also an opportunity to buy tickets for Manor Farm.
The smaller play area outside The Barn café and visitor centre
The Basics
Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
Distance: 4.1 km / 2.5 miles
Terrain: Woodland paths, some well surfaced, others more uneven. Some steps and narrow bridges.
Pushchair: You won’t be able to take a pushchair around our full loop described below, but there is a shorter option available for pushchairs.
Dogs: Dogs are welcome on this walk.
Refreshments: The Barn for snacks, drinks and light food 10am-4pm.
Toilets: There are toilets at The Barn.
Public Transport: There is no suitable public transport to this location.
Parking: Barnfield Car Park, charges apply, pay on exit (Postcode: SO31 1BH - W3W: ///kite.loops.park)
The larger play area at River Hamble Country Park, which is based on a local shipwreck
River Hamble Country Park has received some significant updates in recent years including The Barn, a building hosting a shop, visitor centre and café. There is a small play area beside the cafe and a larger, ship-wreck themed play area a short distance away. The river forms the backbone of the park with a crabbing pontoon and ‘beach’. You will also find woodland and meadows with splendid spring flowers. Manor Farm can also be visited on this walk.
The Route
The walk starts from the Barnfield area. There are play areas, a café, shop, visitor centre, picnic tables, BBQ hire, toilets and dog wash. Begin by walking down the gravel path from the café with the main play area to your left and the long rope swing to your right. Enter the woodland beside a sign that says ‘no personal bbqs’, and then take the second path on your right. Follow the path until you reach a T-junction with the river just visible through trees ahead. Turn left and walk with the river to your right.
You will soon come to the pontoon, which is a popular place to go crabbing. You can buy nets, buckets and line at the shop. Head back up to the path after enjoying the pontoon and continue in the same direction.
A little further along, you will see a sign for the beach (if you wish to divert off the main route, you can go down the steps and get closer to the river. Return to the main path via the second set of steps and then veer right along the little boardwalk at the top). At a tree stump in the middle of a fork in the path, turn right. Keep right again at the next fork and go down the hill with the fence to your right (if you went down to the beach, you will re-join the main route here at the end of the boardwalk). Continue with the river to your right as you walk through Foster’s Copse.
At a fairy house which sits on top of a tree stump, turn right down the steps into Dock Copse (those with pushchairs will struggle with the steps, so we advise continuing straight on and turning left at the next junction to return to Barnfield). Cross a footbridge and go up the steps on the other side. Go through the gap in the wooden fence and then immediately keep left on the compacted gravel path. Walk for around ten minutes and then, just after Callum’s memorial bench, you will reach a junction. Go left and down some wide steps to a thin bridge over a stream. Go up the steps on the other side and then bear left.
Go through the wooden barrier ahead and out onto a grassy path. Follow the path across the top of the meadow and when you reach the gravel track, turn left going slightly up hill. Go through the gate near the end of this track and approach Manor Farm. Cross the little zebra crossing and join the gravel path on the other side.
To get back to Barnfield, you should follow this path in more or less a straight line for around twenty minutes/1.2 km.
In the summer of 2024, a short fairy door trail was installed in the area of steps 1-4 of this walk. Below are What3Word locations for them all. I saw some of the doors on my most recent visit (September 2026), but I cannot guarantee they are all still there.
Fairy Houses
///discouraged.translated.froth
///snap.waddle.zone
///just.torch.cases
///conceats.larger.workouts
///coining/freely.curiosity
///starting.trim.agreement
///hatch.awestruck.cracker
///arrival.muddle.dote
///flush.whirlpool.tapers
///slug.apes.moss
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Did you know?
From the pontoon, you can make out the shipwreck of Henry V’s boat the Grace Dieu which was struck by lightning in the 15th century. This ship is used as the inspiration for the play areas.
If you enjoyed this walk…
…try this one at Itchen Valley, another country park nearby.
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