Thetford Forest

The 50,000 acres of Thetford Forest, much of which is open to the public, are within easy reach.

The forest, Britain's largest lowland pine forest, offers many opportunities for walking, mountain biking and horse riding.

Although there's relatively unrestricted access to most of the forest, most visitors go to High Lodge, where the facilities grouped around a large clearing include the Forest Centre, a building in the style of a traditional Suffolk barn, housing the shop and restaurant. There is a large parking area which includes parking for the disabled and there are disabled toilets available.

The forest drive and entrance is located on the B1107 Thetford to Brandon Road, approximately 4 miles from Thetford and half a mile from Brandon. Follow the Forest Toll Road for about 1½ miles and you will enter the car parking area. A forest toll applies.

The area is rich in wildlife. A small hide at the end of the orange walk (there are 4 walks: the orange route (1 mile), blue route (1 mile), yellow route (3 miles) and the easy access route suitable for pushchairs and wheelchairs that follows the sculpture trail) offers the visitor a chance to glimpse one of the four types of deer that live in the forest - Muntjac, Roe, Red and Fallow. Other wildlife haunts include a bat hibernaculum adjacent to the Centre.

A guide map showing 26 trails around the forest is available from High Lodge Forest Centre.

There is also a large play area and maze, open all year round and the giant sculpture trail is an easy access trail with wooden structures for children to play on.

For the more adventurous, a high level assault course, "Go Ape". We can assure you, is well worth a visit - if you're at least 10, over 1.4m tall, are not scared of heights and are moderately fit.

Cycles, including mobility cycles, can be hired at Bike Art and there are four cycle routes, although you're certainly not restricted to them. The gentle green route, the black mountain bike route (for more experienced mountain bikers), the easy to moderate blue route and the more challenging red route.

Here's a downloadable map (1.7Mb) of the cycle routes. You'll need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view and print it. If you do not have this click the button in the bottom left of the page to download the reader.

There's also a large permanent orienteering course and, to introduce youngsters to the basic orienteering skills, map reading and searching out marker posts, the much shorter Squirrel Scamper.

Contact details

• Bike Art 01842 810090, or 07818 417267
• High Lodge Forest Centre 01842 810271
• Go Ape 0845 643 9215

Guests say ...

"As a local, I can thoroughly recommend the extremely beautiful Thetford Forest. You will appreciate the size and beauty of the place if you go and explore."     P,K G&F

"Thetford Forest - High Lodge: The perfect place for a picnic, cycle hire and ramble around the woods. Great facilities for families."
    -The G & E Families