Dog Walks: Forest of Dean, Cannop Ponds.
Dog Walks, Forest of Dean, Cannop Ponds walk is a lovely adventure through the Forest, some open areas, lots of wildlife to see along the way, and good under foot.
Start/Finish: Forest of Dean, Cannop Ponds Car Park Area.
Directions to Forest of Dean, Cannop Ponds Car Park: On the B4226 Coleford to Cinderford Road. Driving from Coleford you will find the turning to Cannop Ponds off to the right in a dip not long after passing Hopewell Colliery Mining Museum on the left.
Parking: Free Car Park at Cannop Ponds. You will find the car parking area under at Cannop Ponds at the end of the first pond, the car parking area is under shady trees on the on the left side of the road.
Nearest Public Conveniences: No toilets at Cannop Ponds, nearest are a few metres further along the B4226 from the Cannop Ponds turning, they are located on the left side, taking the turing into Beechurst Lodge/Forest of Dean Visitor Centre.
Approximate Total Mileage: 5.5 Miles
Terrain: Route: Some moderate inclines, mostly on gravel tracks, some grass paths also.
Description of suitability and abiity: Route unsuitable for wheelchairs and pushchairs, but there are gravel tracks to walk on in the area that are fine for pushchairs and wheelchairs without doing the entire route. Although part of cycle network, even after a lot of rain these tracks are good under foot.
*Click on the images below to enlarge*
Dog Walks: Forest of Dean, Cannop Ponds Route:
Standing in parking area, walk forward to the edge of the drive/hard road, and turn left, follow the drive/hard road
and ahead of you will be a wooden gate across the cycle track. On the right of the gate is a wooden marker post with a blue and white arrow on it stating ‘Rally around the Forest’.
Continue on down this track and on your right through the trees you will see the lower of the Cannop Ponds.
Part way down the gravel track you will come to the first major junction, it is a 5 way junction, signed e.g. straight on to Coleford 8kms and Parkend 2kms, to the right is Cannop Wharf, to the left a gravel track signed Dilke Bridge 6.3km, you need to take the left gravel path signed to Dilke Bridge.
After walking straight ahead for a short while you will see gates ahead of you, a marker post to the right signing you straight ahead, continue straight ahead and through the gate.
Continue up the incline ahead, ignoring paths leading on to track, just continue ahead.
After a fair distance up the steady incline, you will see the main gravel track sweeps left around a corner, and a foot path goes straight ahead, they do actually meet again around the corner! Continue following the main gravel road, it winds its way around a couple of corners, past a wooden gate on your right, just keep following the main gravel track, do not turn off, keep continuing on the main track ahead.
On the rise up the incline, you will pass by a sleeper sign stating Three Brothers on your left, continue on the main
gravel track, do not turn off on any other paths. You will pass through pieces of fencing with green and red markers beside, these green and red markers are gradient warning signs for cyclists. Continue on this gravel path for a fair distance.
Eventually, you will come to wooden gates with the sleeper sign on the right stating Burnt Log, continue ahead
through the smaller pedestrian gate.
You go along this short path, then cross over a road, follow down a little muddy stony track, you will come to a pedestrian gate at a track t-junction, go left here and follow the track.
After a short while you start to drop down the hill the track bears slightly right, and you come to a way-marker junction signing off to the left to the New Fancy Picnic Site 0.3km, and straight on to Dilke Bridge 3.8kms, you continue straight ahead.
At the end of a straight down a very steady incline, the track bears slightly right over a rise. There are various tracks feeding in here, and there is another way-marker here signing cycle track Dilke Bridge 3.5kms to the left , and to the right Mallards Pike 1.5kms, you continue over the rise and straight ahead on to a gravel track.
You will soon meet a cross roads of tracks, and although the wide gravel track bears left here, you actually continue
straight ahead up a narrower grassy track
As you rise up the path, it turns more grassy than gravel. At the top of the incline the path bears left, ignore the path to the right, you pass by a footpath marker post on your right hand side, continue straight ahead. The track can be slightly muddy along this stretch
You will then come to a cross-roads of tracks, there are two marker posts at the end in the centre of the track you are walking along, and there are two more marker posts diagonally off to the right, at this junction you turn left.
At the end of this grassy slope going down, the grassy slope turns into a gravel road, you continue straight ahead, ignoring tracks feeding in from other directions.
You continue on ahead up the gravel track, you pass over cross roads, keep walking ahead, you will pass a sleeper sign on the right stating Spruce Ride, keep walking straight ahead.
Eventually on the left of the main track at the bottom of the slope there is a green sign stating Speech House Lake, it is worth doing a few steps detour here to take a look, it is a peaceful pretty setting.
Returning to the main track continue on in the direction you were heading before turning into Speech House Lake, so with Speech House Lake on your left as you walk on the main track. Continue on along the track and you will pass the Spruce Ride Commemorative Stone to the Forestry Commission Workers on your right, you then reach a wooden gate at the end of the track.
Immediately before the gate, you take a footpath off to your left, here you are walking through trees with the fence-line immediately on your right, follow on, and around a right hand bend, then there is a small wooden pedestrian gate on your right here in the fence-line, go through this gate and walk straight ahead to the edge of the main road.
At the edge of the main road, take care but cross straight over and turn immediately left, walk a few steps and you will
reach a gateway on your right, turn in here. Cross over the stile, and walk straight ahead down the gravel track, a first, then second grassy track join in from the right, but you continue along the main gravel track on a steady sweeping left curve. Here on your left is a younger tree plantation, and on your right are more mature trees.
After walking along a straight, you come to a 5 way meeting of tracks, here you take the main gravel track around the right, you will have marker posts on you right. Follow this track on and down the hill, go straight over a track cross-roads half way down the hill, continuing on a grassy
stony track.
Very soon you come will come to a track t-junction, here you turn left. Continue on the path heading down the slope, and at the bottom of the slope, just before it starts to rise, you will see on your right a very small
wooden pedestrian gate, here you turn right through this gate. Once through the gate the narrow earth and stone path drops quite sharply down, and then up, it twists its way down through the wood, you will pass by a red marker post on your right, at the bottom of the slope you will cross two wooden foot bridges, and will return into the car park area at Cannop Ponds where you started your walk.
Dog Walks: Forest of Dean Cannop Ponds Possible Places to Eat in the Area, AlthoughI Have Not Tried Them:
http://www.fountaininnandlodge.co.uk/index.html
http://www.primrosefarmtearooms.co.uk/
Dog Walks: Forest of Dean, Cannop Ponds, Other Attractions in the Area:
http://www.forestconnections.co.uk/
http://www.deanforestrailway.co.uk/
http://www.clearwellcaves.com/
http://www.royalforestofdean.info/attractions/index.shtml
Dog Walks: Forest of Dean, Cannop Ponds is a lovely sheltered walk through the Forest, and some open areas, it is quite a straightforward walk that can be enjoyed by many.
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