Maritime Lymington and the coastal marshes — New Forest trails

Discover the wildlife-rich southern end of the New Forest with this 20-mile (31 km) circuit. It guides you through the marshes of Pennington and Keyhaven, a nature reserve and bird watching haven. This Tour is predominantly flat with gravel tracks making up one-third of the terrain. The rest of the journey is dominated by quiet country lanes, offering a good mix of both on and off-road cycling.

Use Church Lane to access a scenic woodland trail running through Roydon Woods. This joins a quiet country lane leading to the village of Boldre where you'll be greeted by The Red Lion pub and its large well-kept garden.

Enjoy rolling along smooth tarmac lanes to Lymington where the route cuts through Quay Street, a quaint cobbled lane with Georgian architecture, colourful bunting and plenty of eateries and shops. You’ll have to walk your bike through this small section, but it gives you a flavour of this maritime village.

Affluent lanes take you out of Lymington, passing marinas, chandleries and boat yards. Weave around Pennington marshes to join an open gravel track offering spectacular marshland views with an Isle of Wight backdrop.

At Keyhaven, a harbour awaits, with benches looking out to sea, facilities and The Gun Inn pub. From here, a picturesque open road leads to the hamlet of Everton and its secret woodland bridleway which links up with south Sway.

The final leg of the Tour cuts through the village of Sway and gently climbs up to a gravel track which joins the Castleman's Corkscrew trail, a wide disused railway leading you back into Brockenhurst.