Walk status: Off-lead
Roads in the forest called 'Foresty Road' always make me a little nervous after Hell walk, but this is one id seen others head down so thought we would chance it and see where we ended up. The map was telling me there was a trail that would lead us round in a loop so the plan was to head down Foresty Road and then loop around back onto Browns Road.
Parking at the Browns Road entrance, you head down the main track till you get to the first clearing on the right which is usually housing to some of the beehives. They were moved to a different location when we walked this day, but just be aware they could be here and to watch your dog and yourself so you avoid being stung.
The start of this walk is lovely, just what you want from a forest walk. The start of the walk is a wide grass pathway which eventually narrows to a small track through the trees. Its about this point that the walk starts to show some of the traits of the others through the forest with the areas of wet muddy ground, but generally this can be avoided with a bit of side stepping and that was the case this time. There was only one muddy spot which is pretty good going!
At the end of the track you come to the houses that border the forest, its obvious that its private land so make sure your dog doesn't sneak through the fence to go visiting the livestock. At this point the GPS was telling me the track we wanted was to the left. Well after off roading down a hill beside the fence line and pushing our way through overgrown bush, buggered if I could find it! Cutting our losses, I turned back and went to where there was a fork in the pathway. This took us right and we headed downhill.
At the bottom of the hill you'll reach a farm gate. There is no signage on the gate to indicate whether its private property or a continuation of the forest land but relying on that GPS again it was telling us there was a pathway straight ahead. So off we go again pushing our way through overgrown bush to find this trail. You're on it for a while as you can see still a hint of trail through the overgrown foliage, but soon enough we reached an area where I couldn't find the track anymore and GPS wasn't being very helpful either. We had to cut our losses here too and just head back the way we came.
It's a really short walk based on the need to basically turn around at the farm gate, so wouldn't be one I would be doing to get some decent exercise in, but its a reasonably leisurely walk if you're looking for something quick or not too physical. The hill coming back up from the gate is quite steep though.
You can see the route we travelled on the GPS image ive included, although some of that is exploratory so you wont want to go to the left of the track or head all the way into the bush on the right either. I have discovered on previous walks using the GPS that sometimes we aren't walking the exact white line shown on the screen, but are in fact walking on the track in the forest so I think there is a possibility these tracks still exist to create the loop I was hoping for, but a bit more exploration from other directions to possibly reach them is required I think!
Location: Browns Road entrance, located off Old North Road
Carparking is limited, as there is a just a gravel lay by off Old North Road to turn into and park up. There is no suitable parking on Old North Road.
Things to know:
There are no toilets here
The gate is locked to vehicles, but walkers and bike riders still have access.
Route taken:
Browns Road > Foresty Road > Browns Road
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