Walking in Newark and Sherwood
Walking can help with your general health, improve your fitness, help you to de-stress and is an activity that can be enjoyed for free by the whole family.
Spending time outdoors, getting your daily dose of vitamin D and engaging with nature can really boost your sense of wellbeing.
The Ramblers website has lots of helpful information if you're interested in walking your way to health. Many of our local walking clubs, including Barnbygate Strollers, publish their walks on the website. Find a local walk near you
Slow Ways
The Slow Ways project is the creation of a network of walking routes that connect all cities, towns and villages in the UK.
This is a collaborative, creative and positive project borne out of the COVID-19 crisis. Walking can improve health and wellbeing, tackle climate and ecological emergencies, save people money and bring joy.
The project aims to create a comprehensive network to help people walk off-road between all UK towns and villages. They need people to walk, test and review all of the Slow Ways routes. Find out more and get involved with the Slow Ways project.
Nottinghamshire walks and routes
You can walk on all rights of way, footpaths, bridleways, byways and restricted byways as well as on open access land. These are all shown on Ordnance Survey Landranger and Explorer maps.
Nottinghamshire County Council has created six routes to explore on foot or bike with distances from three to 15 miles. Download the Nottinghamshire routes and rides leaflet.
Places to visit include the Teversal Trail, Hodsock Priory, Sherwood Forest, Attenborough Nature Reserve, Newark to Aslockton and Vicar Water Country Park. Find walks and rides near you on the Nottinghamshire County Council website.
The countryside code
When you’re out enjoying the outdoors, it’s crucial to follow the countryside code and respect others, protect the natural environment and enjoy the outdoors. Find out the full countryside code on the gov.uk website.
Local walking groups
As well as getting you out and about, walking can be a great social activity. We’ve compiled a list of the organised walking groups in the district to help you make new friends.
Ramblers’ groups
Enjoy organised rambles through the countryside and make new friends at our local rambling groups.
Pushabout Clumber
Meet other Mums and their little ones and enjoy a one hour route that’s pram and pushchair friendly. Various dates throughout the year. Visit the Clumber Park website for more information.
Town walking trails
Newark offers various circular and riverside walks including a Civil War Trail. Distances vary from 2 miles to 11 miles. Download walks in Newark.
Southwell has a number of circular walks and heritage trails to enjoy. The heritage trails are available in leaflet form and provide a guided tour of the historically significant areas in and around Southwell. Get walking in Southwell
Edwinstowe and Sherwood Forest offer history and wildlife-rich walking trails through the national nature reserve as well as longer routes to discover the wider area. Discover walking trails in and around Edwinstowe.
The pretty village of Farnsfield has five local walks Farnsfield has five local walks (PDF File, 441kb) all starting from St Michael's Church on Mainstreet.
Local nature reserves
Local nature reserves are spaces managed for their wildlife, but with the principal idea that people can easily access and go to enjoy the wildlife at these sites. We have many excellent local nature reserves to explore within the district. Explore the local nature reserves in Newark and Sherwood.
Woodland walks
In addition to the nature reserves, we also have a host of other local woodland waiting to be explored.
Sherwood Forest
Sherwood Forest is our most famous Local Nature Reserve and home to hundreds of species of bird, Insect, mammal, fungi, tree and plant. It’s most recognised for its ancient oaks thriving here for more than 500 years, including the legendary Major Oak, estimated to be around 1,000 years old. There are many way-marked walking trails suitable for all abilities.
Sherwood Pines
There is much to explore at Sherwood Pines on foot or bicycle. It is one of our most well-known local forests with activity trails, events, Saturday parkrun and café.
Clumber Park
Owned by the National Trust Clumber Park includes miles of walking and cycling trails. It’s a wonderful place to take in the seasons and get closer to nature and wildlife.
Thoresby Park
Thoresby Park offers parkland walks and cycling routes through beautiful Nottinghamshire Countryside. Wheelchair and pushchair friendly walks are available as well as off the beaten track routes to explore the ancient oaks and abundant wildlife.
Stapleford woods
Managed by Forestry England and an ideal place for a peaceful walk. Stapleford Woods is easily accessed from Newark and Coddington.
Haywood Oaks and Blidworth Woods
Haywood Oaks is a small wood with hidden treasures. Mature oak trees, which are several hundred years old, can still be seen throughout the wood. Set in arable farmland, Blidworth Woods gives welcome cover to a transient deer population and even adders have been spied there.
Intake Wood
Also in Clipstone, next to Cavendish Park Housing Development, Intake Wood contains mainly Scots and Corsican Pine with some oak and birch too. We hope to soon designate the wood as a nature reserve.
Farnsfield Millennium Wood
Full of carefully placed bird and bat boxes and other wildlife habitats, Farnsfield Millennium Wood is lovely to explore as part of one of Farnsfield’s many circular walks.
Boughton Brake
Try one of the four orienteering routes created by the Friends group at Boughton Brake and discover this lovely Forest England site on the outskirts of Boughton. The very easy route is suitable for wheelchairs and buggies in good weather. Download the orienteering course routes map from the Forestry England website.
Trent Vale
The Trent Vale walks website details walks that will take you through historic villages, woodland, farmland and wetland, uncovering some of Trent Vale's fascinating past and present along the way.
Ollerton Pit Wood
Once a former colliery site, Ollerton Pit Wood now boasts a wild strawberry walk, nesting water birds and a whole host of thriving wildlife and different plant species. Surfaced tracks create circular routes from the car park including a trail around the pond. For the more adventurous, try hiking to the pit top for great views of the surrounding countryside.
Dukes Wood, Eakring
Dukes Wood Nature Reserve is owned by Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust and was the location of the UK's first onshore oilfield. Some of the pumps - the 'nodding donkeys' - have been restored and are sited around the wood adjacent to the trail.
Long distance walks
Fancy a challenge? There are a number of long distance walks running through the district which you can walk in stages.
The Robin Hood Way (107 miles) features areas of Nottinghamshire associated with the legendary figure of Robin Hood and his exploits. The route crosses lowland farmland and heathland, visits the great houses and parks of the Dukeries and takes in forests, including Sherwood Forest. It starts at Nottingham Castle and finishes at Edwinstowe Church.
The Trent Valley Way (77 miles) - follows the River Trent, passing through Nottingham and Newark. It starts in Long Eaton and finishes at West Stockwith.
Little John Challenge Walk (28 miles) - a circular route through through Edwinstowe, Warsop, Creswell, Hardwick and Ollerton.