Dog walk

Fir And Pond Woods

Potters Bar, Cuffley

Type of walk

Hilly, Forest

What's here

Free Parking, Off Lead Areas, Animals On Route, Water On Route

About this walk

"This is widely thought to be the best remaining part of the ancient Enfield Chase with diverse woodland, meadow and wetland habitats which support an abundance of wildlife. The woods are rich in birdlife including woodpeckers, sparrowhawks, warblers and tits. At the southern end of Pond Wood there is an ancient meadow with woodland on three sides and Turkey Brook on the fourth. The meadow is rich in invertebrates, including butterflies, grasshoppers and large numbers of old ant hills." - Herts Wildlife Trust website

Not one for the rainiest months as it can get quite swampy, especially around the brook, but in summer it can be a lovely cool retreat as most of the walk is wooded. Parking is very close to the road however so be careful getting in and out of the car! There are three routes of different lengths to tackle depending on how much time you have, varying from 0.8 to 1.5 miles and these are marked with coloured posts along the way. It is worth printing the leaflet from Herts Wildlife Trust (although there are sometimes copies available to pick up from the information point) to take for a first visit as this has the routes laid out fairly clearly and has viewpoints marked on it. Unfortunately there are no dog bins provided that I'm aware of.

Off lead should be fine for most dogs, especially once you are clear of the entrance (it opens almost directly onto a national speed limit road, with only the small layby buffering it). There are some ponds and a brook but these are mostly concentrated at one end of the woods. The usual woodland wildlife such as squirrels are bound to be encountered; some of the adjacent fields are farmland and may have livestock in.

More info

The author provided the following links to more information

Herts Wildlife Trust Visit

Walk added by

occasionalwalker

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Comments (3)

Rosie91
7 years ago

If you're an inexperienced walker like me here's some tips; don't follow the yellow ARROWS, follow the the posts with strips (lol), spent ages looking for the pond that's on the map and turns out I wasn't even on a route as such, if you find the starting point which is by the main entrance and go from there you will be fine :)
DPants21
3 years ago

This is a really lovely walk, it was super muddy when we went however almost swamp like! But once through the swamp lead through to some lovely woodland which you can do a circular route around. Nothing else there really and minimal parking. Dog poo bin near the entrance
Mamayaffe
6 months ago

Beautiful answer easy to walk for humans and hounds. Nice steam at the far end of the woods. Free parking in road. Beware of the smelly pond near the car park..dog stunk after a dip!

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How to get there

Address

Coopers Ln Rd, Cuffley, Potters Bar EN6, UK View on Google

what3words address

///flown.gone.unrealistic View on w3w

Location details

Entrance is located directly opposite the Oshwal Centre (Jain Temple) on Coopers Lane Road. Do not turn into the gates, but there is instead a tiny layby with space for a few cars with access to the woods via a kissing gate.