Millyford Bridge and Old Reptiliary car parks are currently closed following the heath fire near the A31 and the public have been asked to avoid the area.

A fabulous walk for children of all ages, this short route is packed full of interest. It leads you through pine-scented woodlands, past sensory sculptures and tree dens.

From the Millyford Bridge Car Park, turn right on to the Emery Down – Bolderwood Road. Take care as you walk along the roadside for 250m towards the unusual sight of a stone fireplace.

Known as the Portuguese Fireplace, it is all that is left of a cookhouse used by Portuguese soldiers stationed to work as lumberjacks in the New Forest during World War One. During the war, the New Forest was a source of wood for props in the trenches and many ponies were also rounded up and taken to France as working animals. And sphagnum moss was collected from the forest’s bogs and mires as its antibacterial qualities meant it was used to help treat injuries.

Continue on the short path alongside the road until you come to the entrance gate to Holidays Hill Inclosure.

 Walk 150m down the hill until the path splits at a small pond. Look out for the giant wooden frog sculpture beside the pond.

 Continue straight ahead, taking the path to the left of the pond, and continue for 800m through the pine woods towards the Old Reptiliary.

On the right side of the path, pause at the wooden ‘bed’ marked ‘look up’ giving you a restful view of the treetops. Shortly before you come to the centre you’ll see another sculpture on the left of the path – have a look through the wooden telescope to spot a deer in the woods.

There is a picnic site at the site of the former New Forest Reptile Centre. The concrete pods no longer hold any live reptiles or amphibians.  Head back along the path and when you reach the telescope, take the path opposite. The soft woodland path winds through a tunnel of pine trees towards a footbridge and then heads uphill to join with the main gravel cycle route.

At regular intervals along the 500m path you’ll see posts with panels featuring birds, animal and insects – great for teaching little ones about forest wildlife. Take crayons and paper and you can have a great kids activity of taking rubbings of the forest creatures.

To extend the walk, turn left onto the main cycle path for a circular route through Woosons’s Hill and Holidays Hill Inclosure in our Millyford Bridge walk.

 Otherwise, turn right onto the cycle path.

At the bottom of the hill you’ll see another sensory ‘bed’ feature on the left where you can lie back on for a wonderfully relaxing all-round view of the tree tops.

A short distance on, have a break at a group of polished tree stumps arranged alongside a path off the main track.

Continue along the main cycle path back to the pond with the frog sculpture. Take the path on the left and walk up the hill back towards the inclosure gate.

Turn right at the gate and return to the Millyford Bridge car park via the Portuguese Fireplace, taking care along the roadside which has no footpath.