Harwood

4 Stars

A great place if you're a birder, or - like me - a bird photographer, with Crossbills, Lesser Redpolls, Siskins (and Red Squirrels) in relative abundance. Note however that something else that is in abundance is dog dirt: there seems to be nowhere to escape from this stuff.

4 Stars

You can walk here all day and not meet a soul. No car park as such (there is a sign saying "Parking" this way, but you then just reach a "No Entry" sign after a few hundred yards & are prohibited from driving further (it's a rough forest track by then anyway). At that point, the "car park" is in fact a layby you passed on your right a few yards after you turned off at the sign onto the forest road) and no facilities at all, so you will need to be prepared and take everything you need. If you like remote places and not meeting lots of people or indeed any people on your walks, Harwood is ideal. Be aware, we found that there is no phone signal for most of the time once you are into Harwood. If you keep to the main through road of the forest and don't turn off, you can in fact walk all the way to Simonside (about 8-9 miles away) If you like loos available, a proper car park etc, coffee room nearby etc then it's definitely not for you as there really is nothing there in the way of facilities. (though we found that there is a cafe called the "Impromtu" in Elsdon just a couple of miles away which also has National Park information).