Channel Hill

The walk up Channel Hill rewards you with one of those proper views that makes the climb worthwhile. It's a modest peak by most standards, but from the top you get sweeping vistas across Dorset's rolling countryside - the kind of landscape that actually justifies the effort when you're staying nearby in Fordingbridge.

There's nothing fancy here. It's a straightforward hillside walk, no visitor centre or café, just you and the New Forest borderland. The terrain is manageable for most fitness levels, though the final push to the summit does bite a bit. Most people will want two to three hours all in, depending on pace and whether you linger at the top to get your breath back and admire the thing properly.

Best suited to walkers rather than families with small children - the path can get muddy after rain and there aren't facilities on site. If you're based at Hill Cottage Farm Caravan & Camping Park or Summerlands just outside town, it's the kind of local walk you can knock out on a morning before heading elsewhere. Weather matters here; go on a clear day and it genuinely sings. Low cloud and you're spending most of your time looking at the grass at your feet.

It works well as part of a broader rambling day around the area rather than a destination in itself. Free to visit, and you access it from the lanes around Fordingbridge without any faffing about with gates or permits.