Bonfire Hill

The walk up Bonfire Hill rewards you with proper views across the Dorset landscape - the kind where you can actually see what you've climbed for. It's not a dramatic peak, nothing like the Lake District, but from Fordingbridge it's an easy half-hour ramble that works brilliantly as part of a wider afternoon exploring the area.

The summit itself is open heathland with a scattering of gorse and bracken. On a clear day you get a real sense of the terrain rolling away in all directions - Hampshire to the north, the softer Dorset hills beyond. It's the sort of place where walkers genuinely enjoy the effort, and families with reasonably fit kids won't find it a slog either. Allow an hour if you're making a proper outing of it with stops to take in the views.

What makes it work is the location. You're close enough to Fordingbridge town for a coffee before or after, and if you're camping at Hill Cottage Farm or Ashley Heath just down the road, it's the kind of local walk that fills a morning without needing a drive. Fernwood Glamping is slightly further out but still within easy reach if that's where you're based.

Go early in the day if you can - the light is better and you'll likely have the place to yourself. It's free, obviously, and there's no visitor infrastructure, so bring water. Not Instagram-famous, but genuinely worth the walk.