{"id":37449,"date":"2025-04-21T04:54:17","date_gmt":"2025-04-21T04:54:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/37449\/"},"modified":"2025-04-21T04:54:17","modified_gmt":"2025-04-21T04:54:17","slug":"seven-of-the-best-woods-for-walking-your-dog-south-of-bristol","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/37449\/","title":{"rendered":"Seven of the best woods for walking your dog south of Bristol"},"content":{"rendered":"

Some are the best-kept secrets among dog walkers\"AA view of East Harptree Woods, an ideal spot for a dog walk(Image: Bristol Post)<\/p>\n

The days are getting longer, the sun is out and the ground is drying out nicely – spring is sprung, summer is appearing more possible every day, and for all the dogs of Bristol who have been going stir crazy through the dark winter, now is the time to get out and explore.<\/p>\n

But if you and your hound are a bit bored of the same routine walk around the nearest park, or your usual trip to the nearest or favourite spot outside the city, then there are dozens of great woods and forests just a short trip outside the south of Bristol, each with their own distinct sense of place, history and quirky uniqueness.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been a painstaking mission to research them all, but these are the best seven all within striking distance of Bristol.<\/p>\n

East Harptree\"AA view of East Harptree Woods, an ideal spot for a dog walk(Image: Bristol Post)<\/p>\n

A picture-perfect conifer woodland that is small enough to be manageable in one go, but big enough and quiet enough to feel like you are completely alone with the trees.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s managed by Forestry England and can be found up the hill above the village of East Harptree. There\u2019s a fairly big car park off the road and a level paved track from the car park into the woods. There are a couple of circular tracks that aren\u2019t too wild and muddy, but it\u2019s perfectly possible to strike out and get lost in the trees that could be straight out of a fairytale.<\/p>\n

The centrepiece of the wood is the Smitham Chimney – a timely reminder that the rural West Country has a long history of industry.<\/p>\n

This relic of Mendip\u2019s industrial past is a Cornish-style chimney that served the lead works there and survived when the site closed in 1875. It was saved almost 100 years later by the Mendip Society.<\/p>\n

\"AA view of East Harptree Woods, an ideal spot for a dog walk(Image: Bristol Post)<\/p>\n

In front of the chimney is a large pond that\u2019s teeming with wildlife, and surrounded by signs advising that dogs aren\u2019t allowed to go for a swim. Unfortunately my dog can\u2019t read and jumped straight in – which wasn\u2019t the best idea because she came out looking like the creature from the bog.<\/p>\n

Between the car park and the woods is a grassland area with great views across the Chew Valley.<\/p>\n

Greyfield Wood<\/p>\n

There\u2019s almost 90 acres of stunning woodland here, some interesting rural industrial heritage and a waterfall – all within just a few miles of Bristol.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s down near High Littleton and is managed by the Woodland Trust. There\u2019s a small car park – maybe just space for ten cars – so finding a spot in the village and walking up might be needed.<\/p>\n

Ashton CourtFallow deer in the Ashton Court Estate, Bristol<\/p>\n

Probably the one most dog owners in Bristol have been to – it\u2019s on the south-west edge of the city, and is owned and managed by the city council, despite most of it being in North Somerset<\/a>.<\/p>\n

There are many lovely things about Ashton Court, but the steep-sided woods in the west of the parkland are a favourite spot.<\/p>\n

It can get busy, especially on a Sunday, but it\u2019s big enough to explore new areas and never see another soul until you get back near the mansion.<\/p>\n

One note of caution – some of the woods are shared with an off-road bike course, so keep an eye out for a very muddy rider on two wheels hurtling across the path.<\/p>\n

Ashton HillAshton Hill Woods in Failand(Image: Somerset Live)<\/p>\n

The village of Failand lies just to the west of Ashton Court, next to Bristol City\u2019s training ground, and in the south-east corner of the triangle of roads that ring the village is Ashton Hill. If Ashton Court is Bristol\u2019s most famous dog-walking spot, Ashton Hill is its best-kept secret.<\/p>\n

The car park is pretty small but you could get an X6 bus from the centre of Bristol to Failand. From the car park are two nicely paved paths that loop around this stunning 148 acres of mixed woodland. There\u2019s a great map so it\u2019s easy to plan a circular route, or just head off into the trees and get lost and find your own way – all the paths and tracks lead back to the car park eventually.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s on the edge of the Failand Ridge, so it does drop down into the valley quite a bit. It\u2019s a paved track, so is pretty accessible, but is a bit of a climb in places.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s apparently more Giant Redwood trees in southern England than there is in California, and loads of them can be found here at Ashton Hill – the \u2018stand\u2019 of Redwoods make quite a sight.<\/p>\n

Goblin Combe\"GoblinGoblin Combe, near Bristol Airport in North Somerset(Image: Bristol Post)<\/p>\n

Combe is an old West Country word for steep-sided valley that is a relic of the days when we all spoke what\u2019s now called Welsh – its cousin across the Bristol Channel is \u2018cwm\u2019 – and Goblin Combe is a stunning example of this landscape type that\u2019s not quite a gorge but not a valley either.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a small car park off the A370 in Cleeve – so just a 15-minute drive from Bristol – and a short walk between some lovely cottages to the start of the combe. It\u2019s two walks rolled into one. The trek up the combe is like something out of Lord of the Rings, apart from the occasional jet taking off from Bristol Airport<\/a>, while up on the north side of the cliffside is a vast woodland which comes with its own iron age hillfort buried deep in the trees, and fearsome-looking goats.<\/p>\n

You can read more about the amazing Goblin Combe here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Cadbury Camp\"AA view of Cadbury Camp, an ideal spot for a dog walk(Image: Bristol Post)<\/p>\n

Speaking of ancient settlements and the days when everyone here spoke ancient British, over towards Clevedon is a National Trust space that combines great views, great exploring potential for your dog, and a lot of ancient history.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a car park at the village hall in Tickenham, and then a pretty challenging climb up the steep hill to to iron age hillfort at the top, but it\u2019s surrounded by woodland including, on the other side of the hill, the opportunity to walk underneath the M5 split-level flyover.<\/p>\n

Leigh Woods\"LeighLeigh Woods<\/p>\n

Half Forestry England and half National Trust, Leigh Woods is part of an ancient forest that once covered the area around Bristol. In his groundbreaking book about the lost rainforests of Britain, Guy Shrubsole named Leigh Woods as technically a temperate rainforest – so it is a truly special place.<\/p>\n

For dogs, there\u2019s plenty to do and plenty of other dogs to meet as well. It can get pretty busy, but Leigh Woods is big enough, especially the further west you go, to get away from the crowds.<\/p>\n

Parking up by the Suspension Bridge is always tricky, but the main car park further towards Abbots Leigh usually has room. Or it\u2019s walkable over the bridge from much of the city.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Some are the best-kept secrets among dog walkersA view of East Harptree Woods, an ideal spot for a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":37450,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8818],"tags":[381,748,955,393,4884,956,9419,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-37449","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bristol","8":"tag-bristol","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-clevedon","11":"tag-england","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-north-somerset","14":"tag-places","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114374172053154673","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37449","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37449"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37449\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37450"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}