Dog Walks in Edwinstowe
3 walks to explore with your dog in Edwinstowe, Nottinghamshire
Edwinstowe is the village at the heart of Sherwood Forest and, legend has it, where Robin Hood married Maid Marian in the little stone church of St Mary's. For dog owners, that bit of folklore matters less than the fact that the village sits on the doorstep of one of England's greatest surviving areas of ancient oak and birch — a genuinely magical place to walk a dog in any season.
The village itself is small, friendly and very much oriented towards forest visitors, with a handful of independent shops, tea rooms and the visitor centre a couple of minutes' walk from the high street. What makes Edwinstowe unusual is the scale of the woodland you can access on foot: the Major Oak is barely ten minutes from the village square, but the wider forest and Clumber Park extend for miles beyond.
Best Dog Walks in Edwinstowe
The Sherwood Forest Major Oak Walk (3 miles, easy) is the obvious introduction — a flat, waymarked loop through gnarled veteran oaks culminating at the 1,000-year-old tree itself. For a bit more distance and variety, Sherwood Forest and the Major Oak (4 miles, easy) extends into the quieter birch sections away from the main visitor trails, where you'll often have the paths to yourselves mid-week. The big day out, though, is the Clumber Park National Trust Estate (5 miles, easy) just down the road — a sweeping estate walk past the serpentine lake, the famous double lime avenue and acres of open parkland where sociable dogs can make new friends.
Planning Your Visit
Park at the Sherwood Forest visitor centre for the Major Oak routes or at Clumber Park's Hardwick car park for the estate walk (NT members free, otherwise pay-and-display). The forest paths are mostly sandy and soft underfoot, which is kind on older joints, though they can get boggy in winter. Dogs are welcome off-lead across most of Sherwood but should be on leads around the Major Oak enclosure itself. After a morning in the trees, The Forest Lodge is a reliable dog-friendly Edwinstowe pub with a proper fire in winter, and Junkyard Cafe is a quirky post-walk stop for coffee and cake with the dog at your feet.
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