Date : July 9, 2021 Author : Terri Rose Source : Article - Dorset AONB. Image - Wild flowers line the North Dorset Trailway (C) Graham Rains
The North Dorset Trailway runs along a flat, surfaced three-metre wide track making it the ideal safe place for walkers, runners, cyclists, dogs, prams and mobility scooters.
From Whataview CL, it is an easy walk or cycle to the start or if you prefer to drive, there is the Station Road car park for your convenience.
The trailway is ideal for all levels of walkers. Take a short walk with the family, a stroll with the dogs or a long hike – there are plenty of access sites onto the trailway, safe crossing points, no stiles and no traffic.
For cyclists the Trailway provides a link to many rural roads, which allows cycling for miles, virtually traffic free, whilst enjoying the Dorset countryside. This Circular Mountain bike ride incorporates The North Dorset Trailway, Stourpaine and Blandford Forest.
The trailway runs along the route of the old Somerset and Dorset Railway line, which closed to traffic in 1966 and links many of North Dorset's pretty towns and villages taking in the superb views of Hambledon Hill, and following the course of the meandering River Stour.
Places of interest along the trailway include:
There are also links to the Stour Valley Way, The Wessex Ridgeway, The Jubilee Trail, and Hod and Hambledon Hills. Open Access land and nature reserves and woods such as Piddles Wood and Blandford Forest are within easy walking distance.
If all this walking, cycling and exploring has made you hungry and thirsty, there are lots of places for refreshments en route: Poets Corner Cafe, Sturminster Newton; Fiddleford Inn, Fiddleford; Shillingstone Station; The Old Ox, Shillingstone; and the White Horse Inn, Stourpaine.
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