Cadman's Pool
This walk visits a particularly lovely and fairly quiet area of the New Forest. The attractive little pool is located near Fritham and Stoney Cross. It attracts a variety of birdlife and is a great place for a picnic.
This walk starts from the Cadman's Pool car park and takes you around the pond to Splash Bridge through the Holly Hatch Inclosure. You then follow Dockens Water back to the car park. It's a nice stretch with riverside willows and pretty bridges over the water.
The area is also great for wildlife spotting. Look out for deer, ponies and birds such as finches, firecrests, and woodlarks.
If you would like to extend your walk then you could head to Latchmore Brook and the Hasley Hill Inclosure which is only about a mile west of the pool. Our Fritham Circular Walk visits the pool and the pretty Green Pond and Janesmoor Pond.
Postcode
SO43 7HH - Please note: Postcode may be approximate for some rural locationsCadman's Pool Ordnance Survey Map 
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Cadman's Pool Open Street Map 
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Cadman's Pool OS Map 
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Cadman's Pool Open Street Map 
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Pubs/Cafes
After your walk head to the Royal Oak in the nearby village of Fritham. The pub is popular with walkers and located just a mile north of the pool. Features include a partly-thatched roof and a nice big garden to relax in during the summer months. You can find it in the small village at postcode SO43 7HJ.
Further Information and Other Local Ideas
The Frogham to Fritham Circular Walk can be picked up in nearby Fritham. The route climbs to the splendid viewpoint at Hampton Ridge before heading to the lovely Latchmore Brook and Hasley Hill Inclosure near Fordingbridge. Near Frogham you can pick up the Godshill Walk and enjoy the rhododendrons of the Godshill Inclosure before a climb to the Castle Hill viewpoint. The Ashley Walk area is also located near here and another popular area to start a walk with its large car park and pleasant heathland trails.
For more walking ideas in the area see the New Forest Walks page.
Cycle Routes and Walking Routes Nearby
Photos
Cadman's Pool, New Forest. This photo was taken from the car park. It is a popular starting point for walkers.
Ducks, Cadman's Pool. The pond is a breeding ground for duck and Canada geese and is one of only three ponds in the forest where fishing is allowed.
Cadman's Pool was created in the 1960s to enhance the scene by deputy surveyor of the Forest, Arthur Cadman.
Heathland to the west of Cadman's Pool, New Forest. This is the view southwest from the path that leads west from the car park at Cadman's Pool. The corner of the Holly Hatch Inclosure can be seen on the right, and a few self-seeded Scots Fir can be seen on the slope to the left.
Entrance to the car park. The concrete track to the Forestry Commission car park at Cadman's Pool is a remnant of the Second World War airfield on the plain. The name of the pool is not a mis-spelling of nearby Cadnam, it was the surname of the Forest deputy surveyor from the 1960s who created the pool to enhance the forest scene. The car park provides convenient access to Anses Wood on the hillside leading down to Dockens Water.
A similar view southwest across the heathland. Here the gravel capped terrace of Ocknell Plain slopes down to Dockens Water - the hillside is mostly waterlogged, indicated by the lack of bracken.
Woodland trail west of the site. This track passes through the eastern part of Broomy Inclosure, from Broomy Bottom to Holly Hatch Cottage. This half of Broomy Inclosure comprises oak planted in 1829 following the 1808 Act of Parliament (a result of Napoleonic tensions and the need for good timber for the navy). The inclosure was 'thrown open' long ago, and without fences the commoners' stock have grazed away the ground cover between the trees shaping the present scene of tall oaks with nothing between.
Dockens Water and Holly Hatch Cottage. The white building is Holly Hatch Cottage, a Forest Keeper's residence - one of the more remote dwellings in the New Forest. In the foreground is the concrete ford across Dockens Water, with the stream water passing beneath via plastic tubes. Dockens Water eventually joins the River Avon near Ibsley.