By Eva Best

What’s The New Forest?

The New Forest is a national park in Hampshire in the South of England and is home to an array of wildlife that live freely among the woodland and grassland of the open forest.

At New Forest Activities, we regularly get asked “What’s The New Forest?” We are a local information point and we get plenty of phone calls wanting to find out a bit more about The New Forest. As a company, we love where we live and where we work so we are more than happy to have people ask questions and show their interest in such a lovely part of the world.

Here are just a few of the frequently asked questions we get alongside “What’s The New Forest?”

What time does the National Park open?

This is a question that for locals would really confuse us but as someone coming from further afield this one may be a little confusing! It never shuts, it’s a beautiful open area of woodland and coastland that spans 218 square miles in total and covers a variety of villages and towns. You can go on numerous walking and cycling trails, take plenty of idyllic photos, enjoy the local country pubs and take in the country air and peacefulness.

What can I do in The New Forest?

There are plenty of local tourist towns to visit such as Lymington and Lyndhurst. These have souvenir shops and coffee shops galore, so you always have somewhere to rest your feet if you’ve been exploring for hours on end. Here at New Forest Activities, we are based in Beaulieu and offer land activities around the area as well as water activities on the scenic Beaulieu River. It’s certainly worth the trip, no matter how near or far!

Where can we find the forest ponies?

This is probably the most asked question that we get! The answer is everywhere, provided you haven’t crossed over a cattle grid! Along open forest places such as Beaulieu and Brockenhurst, you are likely to see them grazing and roaming as free as they have done for centuries. Whilst they are owned by commoners, they are wild, so we always say please never feed them. They are wild and shouldn’t be treated as pets, they can bite and feeding them also encourages them to pester everyone that walks along the open forest, which can in turn make them grumpy when you don’t!

Whilst there are many more questions and we could be here all day, I hope that gives you an overview on the overall question of ‘What’s The New Forest?’. We are very lucky to work in such a beautiful area and the drive to work along the open forest in the morning isn’t so bad either! If you haven’t visited The New Forest and are looking for a countryside getaway, whether that be as a family, friends or as a couple, we would highly recommend it!