Autumn is back, bringing with it a dazzling patchwork of foliage. From fiery-red maple leaves to coppery-bronze beech trees, it won’t be long until the UK’s forests begin to change colour.
This year, the wet spring and cooler-than-average summer could mean autumn leaf displays last even longer than usual, according to the National Trust. A steady drop in temperature, coupled with more “settled” weather, might lead to a more “drawn-out display” across the country’s parks and woodlands.
October and November are a “magical” time for walking, said James Forrest in The Telegraph. With the summer crowds gone, and the trails quieter, “autumnal ambling is ideal for the whole family”.
Here are some of the best places to soak up the views.
Coombe Hill, Buckinghamshire
From the top of Coombe Hill, you’ll get a magnificent view across the Chiltern Hills in “all their autumnal glory”, said Ellie Walker-Arnott in Time Out. And if the conditions are right, you should be able to see all the way to the Cotswolds. After taking in the sweeping vistas, pick one of the many nearby walking trails which will take you through a “canopy of golden beech trees or the moss-covered Low Scrubs woodland at the foot of the hill”.
Ashridge, Hertfordshire
The “explosion of vibrantly earthy colours” across Ashridge Estate’s ancient woodland is “difficult to beat” at this time of year, said Forrest in The Telegraph. Once the residence of Henry VIII, the 5,000-acre National Trust estate is home to a beautiful tree-fringed parkland designed by Capability Brown. For a “superb” but not too difficult trail, follow the three-mile Foresters’ Walk which takes you through deer meadows, historic forests and “serves up lovely views of Ashridge House”.
New Forest National Park
Located on the south coast of England, spanning Hampshire and Wiltshire, this “great treescape” has been a “place of autumn magnificence for centuries”, said Chris Leadbeater in The Telegraph. The sprawling national park is home to ancient oaks and “elderly beeches”, alongside evergreen yews that have “murmured with the breeze for the best part of a millennium”. Consider visiting during the New Forest Walking Festival from 19 October 19 to 3 November to take part in one of the many guided strolls.
Howick Hall, Northumberland
Set in the grounds of Howick Hall is a 65-acre arboretum grown almost entirely from seeds collected in the wild from China, Japan and Vietnam, said Lucy McGuire in The Times. Those that are “feeling energetic” can “combine strolls beside burnt-orange beech and rose-pink katsura trees” with an amble along the East Arboretum’s Long Walk Trail to a “peaceful sandy cove”. It’s also well worth visiting Silver Wood – a woodland garden established by Lord Grey in 1930 – to see the “burgundy-colour nikko maples”.
Derby Arboretum, Derby
“This Grade II listed attraction is England’s oldest public park”, said McGuire in The Times. Commissioned by local mill-owner and philanthropist Joseph Strutt and designed by Victorian botanist John Claudius Loudon in 1840, the magnificent arboretum is still home to 10 original trees including the “black walnut, which displays buttery-yellow autumn foliage”.
Glen Affric, Highlands
Glen Affric is a beautiful place to visit at any time of the year, said Forrest in The Telegraph, but it’s “even more magical” come autumn when the “ancient Caledonian pines and haunting moorlands morph colours into golden hues”. For a “real adventure”, consider taking the 44-mile long-distance hiking trail, the Affric Kintail Way, from Drumnadrochit on the shores of Loch Ness to Morvich in Kintail.