Ringwood Forest, Hampshire

Mid-December 2025

I needed a quick night out camping, plus the chance to bag another trig point, so I headed to some woodland not too far away. Ringwood Forest sits between Verwood and St Ives, with parts in Hampshire and parts in Dorset.

Looking at the images on Google Maps before I visited, I knew that most of this area was mainly a plantation forest.

Plantations look green and forest-like, but they come with a few drawbacks. Very little lives in the trees, and when it comes to camping they throw-up a couple of challenges. The ground is often difficult to camp on – usually very uneven and full of debris.

So when I found this spot, pretty close to a few paths and near some 4000-year-old burial mounds, I knew it was where I’d spend the night.

It turned out to be one of the flattest and softest places I’ve camped in for a long time. A moss-lined gully, perfect for a bivvy. It was visible from the paths, but as the light faded, and with the low profile of the Nortent Skjul, I knew I’d be out of sight.

I’d also be leaving before dawn, which meant any visitors would take time to reach the area, and most people wait until daylight before heading into the forest anyway.

The night itself was very quiet. There were no animal noises, just the distant sound of cars from the nearby road and a few planes flying over.

Coordinates:

Google Maps: 50°51’38.0″N 1°50’28.8″W

GPS:SU 11254 06802

What3words:villa.recliner.sheets

Getting there:

I drove and parked on the Ebblake Industrial Estate on the edge of Verwood. From here, there are several access routes into the forest.

There’s also plenty of on-street parking in the residential areas bordering Verwood and the nearby industrial estates.

The forest itself has a number of free car parks dotted around its perimeter, and I counted at least five along Verwood Road.

Heads up:

Plantation forests can be difficult -but not impossible places to find a flat spot. The trees, especially younger ones, are often tightly packed together. The ground is usually very uneven, with stumps left from previous crops, and it’s often strewn with debris from falling or fallen branches.

These areas also tend to have a lot of paths through, in and around the plantations, to allow access for vehicles, forestry workers and dog walkers.

I had no issues all the night. There was very little in the way of animal noise, and the only the sound of cars on a nearby road, and planes flying overhead due to the forest’s proximity to Bournemouth Airport.

Good phone and internet signals.

#hampshire #bivvi #bivi #bivicamp #solocamping #wildcamping #nortentskjul #trigpoint #trigbagging #ringwood #ringwoodforest #plantationforest

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