Brockenhurst’s biggest
Culverley Green
Park or garden
2.7 ha (7 acres)0.2 km of path
4 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
Centralin the middle of Brockenhurst
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Brockenhurst Baptist Church · Photo: Hassocks5489 · CC0BOutdoors Grade
Outdoors in Brockenhurst · parks, paths & countryside
Brockenhurst is inside the New Forest National Park
A park or playing field is within a 5-minute walk for 63% of residents. 46 km of footpaths run through the town and the kilometre around it, 3.3 for every square kilometre. Brockenhurst grades B for the outdoors: #57 of 76 in Hampshire. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Green space
1.8 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical UK town 2.1
Near a park
63%
of residents within 400 m
Typical UK town 83%
Footpaths
46 km
3.3 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical UK town 3.0 per km²
Protected landscape
98%
of the land within 5 km
Nearest: New Forest National Park
Character
What kind of outdoors town is Brockenhurst?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
Inside the New Forest National ParkBrockenhurst sits inside it: 567 km² of protected landscape.Less park per person1.8 ha of parks and playing fields per 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1.
Brockenhurst’s strongest suit is a protected landscape all round. Where it falls short is park space per person.
Outdoors grade
Brockenhurst grades B for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Brockenhurst, the dashed line the typical town. The number is the share of towns it beats; the five are averaged and the average ranked again.
B
Better than 58% of UK towns#57 of 76 in Hampshire · 21st of 60 UK towns its size
Public green space1.8 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
39out of
100
100
A park within a walk63%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
22out of
100
100
National Park or National Landscape98%of the land within 5 km
99out of
100
100
Footpaths3.3 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
66out of
100
100
The sea0%of the area within 5 km · Inland
42out of
100
100
Graded, never part of the overall grade (like History and Civic life). It measures what is mapped: OS Open Greenspace leaves out woodland and open-access land that isn’t a park, and OpenStreetMap’s rural paths are more complete in some places than others.
Towns its size
Brockenhurst is 21st of 60 UK towns its size for the outdoors
The 60 UK towns and cities of 3,300 to 3,600 people with an Outdoors Grade. Hover a dot for its figures; tap one for its page.
Outdoors score: the share of UK towns each one beats
Footpath, km per km²
Brockenhurst3.3
Towns its size2.7
Hampshire towns3.3
All UK towns3.0
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Brockenhurst1.8
Towns its size2.2
Hampshire towns2.8
All UK towns2.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Brockenhurst63%
Towns its size83%
Hampshire towns80%
All UK towns83%
Against towns its size, Brockenhurst stands out most for path per km²: only 15 of the other 59 have more. It falls furthest behind on homes near a park, where 47 of the others do better.
Show as a table
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Minchinhampton Gloucestershire | A+ | 5.6 | 91% | 5.3 | 90% |
| 2 | Lane End Buckinghamshire | A+ | 3.1 | 92% | 4.7 | 90% |
| 3 | Silsoe Bedfordshire | A+ | 6.6 | 100% | 3.8 | 2% |
| 4 | Goring Oxfordshire | A+ | 3 | 100% | 3.2 | 98% |
| 5 | Talke and Talke Pits Staffordshire | A | 16.6 | 100% | 3.5 | 0% |
| 6 | Bishopston West Glamorgan | A | 3 | 47% | 3.1 | 41% |
| 7 | Kingsbury Warwickshire | A− | 17.2 | 100% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 8 | Shenley Hertfordshire | A− | 6.1 | 100% | 3.2 | 0% |
| 9 | Elsenham Essex | A− | 3 | 100% | 4.3 | 0% |
| 10 | Westward Ho! Devon | A− | 12.3 | 63% | 1.7 | 18% |
| 11 | Taff's Well Mid Glamorgan | A− | 2.3 | 100% | 6.2 | 0% |
| 12 | Grassmoor Derbyshire | A− | 6.8 | 85% | 4.7 | 0% |
| 13 | Essington Staffordshire | B+ | 6.8 | 100% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 14 | Blaenau Ffestiniog Gwynedd | B+ | 3.6 | 70% | 2.5 | 78% |
| 15 | St Asaph Clwyd | B+ | 3.2 | 100% | 1.6 | 9% |
| 16 | Water Orton Warwickshire | B+ | 5.3 | 82% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 17 | Hartley Wintney Hampshire | B+ | 6.1 | 82% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 18 | Chartham Kent | B | 2.3 | 67% | 3.3 | 44% |
| 19 | Whalley Lancashire | B | 1.2 | 88% | 3.5 | 23% |
| 20 | Roade Northamptonshire | B | 2.6 | 100% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 21 | Brockenhurst Hampshire | B | 1.8 | 63% | 3.3 | 98% |
| 22 | Llanfairfechan Clwyd | B | 1 | 48% | 2.9 | 38% |
| 23 | Sturminster Newton Dorset | B | 1.4 | 85% | 3.6 | 5% |
| 24 | Sunniside Tyne and Wear | B | 2.1 | 87% | 4 | 0% |
| 25 | Gunnislake and St Ann's Chapel Cornwall | B− | 2.5 | 64% | 2.3 | 66% |
| 26 | Istead Rise Kent | B− | 1.9 | 82% | 2.7 | 15% |
| 27 | Ruabon Clwyd | B− | 3.8 | 69% | 1.9 | 20% |
| 28 | Burtonwood Cheshire | B− | 3.3 | 93% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 29 | Theydon Bois Essex | B− | 2.4 | 70% | 5.1 | 0% |
| 30 | Castle Cary Somerset | B− | 2.2 | 91% | 3 | 0% |
| 31 | Pilsley and Lower Pilsley Derbyshire | B− | 1.9 | 91% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 32 | Bembridge Isle of Wight | B− | 1.5 | 50% | 2.3 | 7% |
| 33 | Kirkheaton West Yorkshire | C+ | 1.8 | 92% | 3 | 0% |
| 34 | Broomfield Essex | C+ | 2.7 | 45% | 5 | 0% |
| 35 | Fishguard Dyfed | C+ | 0.8 | 64% | 2.1 | 23% |
| 36 | Woodstock Oxfordshire | C+ | 1 | 80% | 3 | 11% |
| 37 | Boreham Essex | C+ | 1.1 | 100% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 38 | Thorpe Willoughby North Yorkshire | C | 0.4 | 92% | 3.5 | 0% |
| 39 | Cosby Leicestershire | C | 1.6 | 93% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 40 | Marden Kent | C | 1.8 | 71% | 2.1 | 3% |
| 41 | Upper Poppleton North Yorkshire | C | 2.9 | 82% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 42 | Alvechurch Worcestershire | C | 2.2 | 84% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 43 | Nettleham Lincolnshire | C | 4.2 | 74% | 1.3 | 0% |
| 44 | Goff's Oak Hertfordshire | C− | 2.4 | 41% | 3.1 | 0% |
| 45 | Holsworthy Devon | C− | 2.7 | 84% | 0.8 | 0% |
| 46 | Lytchett Matravers Dorset | C− | 1.2 | 83% | 1.2 | 5% |
| 47 | Tylorstown and Pontygwaith Mid Glamorgan | C− | 2.3 | 63% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 48 | Willand Devon | C− | 0.9 | 88% | 0.6 | 1% |
| 49 | Snaith East Riding of Yorkshire | D | 0.2 | 89% | 2 | 0% |
| 50 | Witham St Hughs Lincolnshire | D | 0.7 | 91% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 51 | Wadhurst East Sussex | D | 0.9 | 19% | 1.2 | 100% |
| 52 | Chapel St Leonards Lincolnshire | D | 0.4 | 53% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 53 | Lanchester County Durham | D | 1.4 | 70% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 54 | Bilsthorpe Nottinghamshire | D | 0.7 | 88% | 1.2 | 0% |
| 55 | Metheringham Lincolnshire | D | 0.8 | 44% | 3 | 0% |
| 56 | Cherry Willingham Lincolnshire | D | 1 | 79% | 1.6 | 0% |
| 57 | Spixworth Norfolk | D | 0.6 | 59% | 1.2 | 5% |
| 58 | Wollaston Northamptonshire | D− | 1.2 | 11% | 1.2 | 0% |
| 59 | Barlby North Yorkshire | D− | 0.2 | 0% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 60 | Bawtry South Yorkshire | D− | 0.5 | 49% | 1 | 0% |
The map
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Brockenhurst’s built-up area.
Green space: parks, gardens, playing fields and play spaces, named or not.© OpenStreetMap contributors · Contains OS data © Crown copyright · Natural England / NRW
Places to walk
Parks to walk in, in and around Brockenhurst
The biggest is Culverley Green, 2.7 ha (7 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
Waters Green
Park or garden
1.0 ha (3 acres)0.1 km of path
Centralin the middle of Brockenhurst
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Close to home
6 in 10 Brockenhurst residents live within a 5-minute walk of a park
Each square is 1 in 100 residents: green lives within 400 m of a public park, garden or playing field (Census 2021 output areas against OS Open Greenspace).
Within 400 m (63%)Further (37%)
Brockenhurst63%
Towns its size83%
Hampshire towns80%
All UK towns83%
About 1,300 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees.
National Parks & National Landscapes
National Parks and National Landscapes around Brockenhurst
Protected landscapes within 30 km, by direction and distance from the edge of the built-up area; circle size shows each one’s area. National Landscapes were called Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty until 2023.
National ParkNational LandscapeThe 5 km the grade counts
National Park
New Forest
Brockenhurst is inside it567 km²since 200698% of the land within 5 km
Official siteNational Landscape
Cranborne Chase & West Wiltshire Downs
13 mi north-west986 km²since 1983
Official site98% of the land within 5 km of Brockenhurst is National Park or National Landscape, more than 98% of UK towns. New Forest National Park covers 567 km² and has been a National Park since 2006.
Footpaths & waymarked walks
Footpaths in and around Brockenhurst
46 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Brockenhurst and the kilometre around it, 3.3 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0).
No named walking route is mapped within 2 km of Brockenhurst; its footpaths are on the map above.
Waymarked walks are OpenStreetMap walking routes. Public rights of way are only as complete as the map in each area.
When to get out
The best walking months in Brockenhurst: May to September
The town’s 1991–2020 averages (Met Office HadUK-Grid) and the daylight at its latitude. Outlined months have 12½+ hours of daylight, highs of 15 °C or more and little rain for the town.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight (h) | 8.4 | 9.9 | 11.7 | 13.7 | 15.5 | 16.5 | 16.1 | 14.5 | 12.5 | 10.6 | 8.8 | 8.0 |
| High (°C) | 8 | 9 | 11 | 14 | 18 | 20 | 22 | 22 | 19 | 16 | 11 | 9 |
| Rain (mm) | 101 | 71 | 64 | 61 | 52 | 58 | 54 | 63 | 71 | 104 | 116 | 109 |
May is the driest month (52 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 22 °C). Winter days are short, about 8 hours of daylight in December, and 116 mm of rain falls in November, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 45 nights a year. The climate in Brockenhurst →
The coast
Beaches near Brockenhurst
0% of the area within 5 km of Brockenhurst is sea, so the Outdoors Grade counts it as inland. 2 beaches are mapped within 5 km, 1 with a name.
Brockenhurst Beach0.1 mi from town
DirectionsSea: the area outside the ONS coastline (mean high water). Bathing water quality is published by the Environment Agency (England) and Natural Resources Wales; check it before swimming.
Things to do
2 playgrounds
Mapped within 2 km of the town in OpenStreetMap, against the typical UK town its size per resident. Named places are listed with directions; unnamed ones are only counted.
Every named place, with directions
Hills and peaks 3
Five Thorns Hill37 m (121 ft) · 0.5 mi from town
DirectionsRed Hill43 m (141 ft) · 0.8 mi from town
DirectionsBlackhamsley Hill59 m (194 ft) · 1.1 mi from town
DirectionsCampsites 4
Tile Barn Outdoor Centre0.3 mi from town
DirectionsAldridge Hill Camp Site0.4 mi from town
DirectionsHollands Wood0.5 mi from town
DirectionsLong Meadow Campsite0.8 mi from town
DirectionsNext door
The outdoors in nearby towns
The nearest towns of 1,000+ within 12 miles. Tap a town for its outdoors page.
SwayLyndhurstLymingtonHordleAshleyEvertonBrockenhurst
ABCDOutdoors Grade
Lymington, 4.5 miles away, grades A+, the best next door: 89% of its residents live within 400 m of a park.
Questions about the outdoors in Brockenhurst
What is the biggest park in Brockenhurst?
Culverley Green, 2.7 ha (7 acres). Waters Green (1.0 ha) is second. 2 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the town or within 400 m of it.
How many people in Brockenhurst live near a park?
63% of residents live within 400 m, about a 5-minute walk, of a public park, garden or playing field (Census 2021 output areas against OS Open Greenspace). The typical UK town is 83%.
When is the best time of year for walking in Brockenhurst?
May to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Is Brockenhurst good for walking?
For paths, yes: 3.3 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 66% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 39% (1.8 ha per 1,000 residents).
How is the Outdoors Grade worked out?
From five measures, each placed among UK towns of 1,000 or more: public green space per resident, the share living near a park, National Park or National Landscape within 5 km, footpaths per square kilometre, and the sea within 5 km. It is a character grade and isn’t part of Brockenhurst’s overall grade.
Sources
Where Brockenhurst’s outdoors figures come from
- Parks and green space: Ordnance Survey OS Open Greenspace (parks and gardens, playing fields, play spaces, and their access points). Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026, Open Government Licence v3.0.
- National Parks and National Landscapes: Natural England and Natural Resources Wales boundaries, areas and designation dates, Open Government Licence v3.0.
- Footpaths, walking routes, beaches and things to do: © OpenStreetMap contributors, Open Database License (ODbL), via Geofabrik, 16 October 2026.
- Historic parks, listed buildings and monuments: Historic England, National Heritage List for England, Open Government Licence v3.0.
- Rain and temperature: Met Office HadUK-Grid 1991–2020 averages for the town; daylight calculated from its latitude.
- The sea: ONS Countries (December 2024) boundaries clipped to mean high water. Residents near a park: ONS Census 2021 output areas.
- Grade: TownRatings’ Outdoors Grade, ranked against UK towns only.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.