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Orange Walk (closed)


(Average user rating3 unrated 3/5)

About Orange Walk

The Orange Walk can be started from St Helens Picnic Site or from Santon Downham and offers the walker a variety of habitats and many opportunities for wildlife watching. The walk passes through the Little Ouse Valley Forest Nature Reserve, crosses the river and takes the walker through the edge of Santon Downham village. Six interpretation boards along the walk explain features of interest to the historian as well as the naturalist. 1) Lychgate - general site information; 2) Little Ouse Meadows - information on the ecology of a rare and interesting habitat; 3) Santon Warren - heathland for the future; 4) Thetford Rare Birds - ornithology of the forest; 5) Blood Hill - prehistoric burial mound; 6) St Helen's Church and Holy Well, Santon.

How to get there:

Orange Walk can be started from Santon Downham in Thetford Forest Park. Santon Downham and Brandon are the nearest towns or villages.

From Brandon take the B1107 towards Thetford.

On the outskirts of Brandon, fork left signposted Santon Downham and Forest District Offices.

Follow this road through the village until you reach the church.

Turn left and park in the Forest District Offices car park.

OS Grid Reference: TL 810 851
For details of public transport visit http://www.transportdirect.info

You can also access this trail through St Helens.

What's on in Thetford Forest Park

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Santon Downham Facilities.
ToiletsInformationParkingRefreshments
Grade of trail:
Sensible footwareEasy
Trail waymarking:
Length of trail:
Five miles
Approximate time of trail:
Allow up to two and a half hours hours
Open or closed:
closed Due to Forest Operations and tree harvesting this trail is closed until January 2013.
Click here to find out what else you can do in this forest.

Contact:
Nicky Russell

01842 819081
e-mail: nicky.russell@forestry.gsi.gov.uk

User Comments

5 Stars 5 Stars

One of the best walks I have done in the Thetford Forest.

Nick, 3/Feb/2012
4 Stars 4 Stars

An enjoyable walk; the waymarkers are very clear though my map from the FC website shows a single route but there is a shortcut marked on the ground creating two options - it's easy to follow the wrong one at that point.

Stephen, 29/Oct/2011

Thank you for your comment Stephen, you are correct there is a short route, I will try and get it signposted. Nicky Hooton - Recreation Ranger

Forestry Commission Response
4 Stars 4 Stars

We enjoyed a very pleasant walk along the Orange route today, and felt the Forestry Commission must have done a lot of work recently, as there were regularly spaced, visible orange markers along the whole route which confirmed the direction at each turn, without too much searching, and with no risk of arrows being 'redirected' for a joke. We found we didn't really need the route map we had printed out before we left, but were glad to have it to keep track of our progress.

Jo, 29/Aug/2011
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Active woods

What's of interest

Most of the waymarked walks throughout Thetford Forest Park are suitable for wheelchair access and pushchairs. Some tracks are quite sandy in places and may become waterlogged or muddy after prolonged periods of rain. A map showing the trail around Santon Downham is available from the Forest Office (office hours only) . You can also download it.