Knightwood Oak car park is currently closed following the heath fire near the A31 and the public have been asked to avoid the area.

A woodland walk taking in two of the most famous old trees in the New Forest.

Route

From the Knightwood Oak car park, off the Bolderwood Ornamental Drive, follow the path behind the car park as it heads away from the road. Continue on the straight path for 200m before making a right turn at a T-junction.

After 150m, turn left and walk on the straight path across an area of open heath for 250m.

 Turn left and follow the track as it curves round to the right. Take the next right turn and walk for 100m until the path splits. Follow the forest track on the right heading into the woods and you’ll find the Eagle Oak located off the right side of the path after a short distance.

With the branches of a yew tree entangled amongst its own, the Eagle Oak has a girth of about 5.4m. It is so-named as it is thought that the last remaining sea eagle in southern England was shot from its branches in the early 19th Century. However the tree has survived to see the return of the birds of prey – thanks to a conservation and breeding project set up on the Isle of Wight by the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation. The white-tailed eagle is the UK’s largest bird of prey with a wing span of up to 2.5m.

Continue on the track downhill through the woods until it meets a gravel path.

Follow the cycle path through the oak and beech woods of Anderwood Inclosure for 600m. When you reach cycle marker post 130, turn left on to the forest track which winds through the trees for another 700m before arriving at the picnic site and car park.

Leave the car park via the entrance on to Lyndhurst Road. Take care as you turn left and walk along the roadside for 200m until you come to another path heading back into the woods. Join the path past a vehicle barrier and continue for 300m, then take the path to the right.

After 200m, turn left and follow the path until it curves gently to the right, then to the left, bringing you back to the track for the Eagle Oak on the right. Continue on the gravel path as it curves round to the right. After 400m, turn left and retrace your earlier steps back to the Knightwood car park by taking the next right and left turns.

Walk through the car park and cross the Bolderwood Ornamental Drive. Join the signposted path for the short stroll through Monarch’s Grove to the Knightwood Oak. There are picnic benches and seats along the way.

Known as the Queen of the Forest, the Knightwood Oak is thought to be about 600 years old and, as such, is one of the oldest trees in the New Forest. Over the centuries it has been pollarded – the upper branches cut off for purposes such as firewood – without harming the tree. The tree’s trunk has a circumference of some 7m.

After walking round the Knightwood Oak, follow the path back the road and the car park.

In Pictures