Fancy Trying A Walk ?

There are all sorts of walking opportunities in Dorset. Many visitors to the county don't stray far from their cars. Unfortunately that means they miss some of the best views and sights. Below you will find a variety of opportunities to get walking e.g. Walks Led by Ramblers Leaders, LDWA and other organised challenges, wildlife and themed walks and health walks (short walks).

If you know of a walk that you think might be suitable for display here please let the site webmaster know via the e-mail address on the contact page.  Suitable walks are ones intended to get people started as walkers, ones for charitable purposes or ones that are/could be used for charity fund raising. Please note although walk organizers typically put on walks between April and September visitors to this site increase October to March.

Advice For New Walkers - All sporting and leisure activities have inherent dangers and walking/rambling is no exception. It is important that participants in Ramblers organised events appreciate that they have a responsibility to take reasonable steps to identify hazards and take reasonable steps to minimize or eliminate the potential for an accident to arise.  Click here for advice about safety, comfort and walking etiquette

Walks Led By Ramblers Leaders

There are many reasons for going on a walk organised by an experienced leader or trying a walk with route instructions worked out for you. The best way to find out what those pleasures are is to go on the walks. There is a Ramblers' Walks Finder on the UK wide Ramblers site which can be used to search walks across the country. You can use this to find walks in Dorset but here are some links to some group contact pages on the same site which include ready made searches.

East Dorset , South Dorset , Dorset Young Walkers , North Dorset , West Dorset

If you want to find out more there are group contacts on the contacts page.

  Heart Of Wessex Line Summer Walks 2008

Download a copy of the new Summer Season of Guided Walks here. The walks, all devised and led by experienced leaders from the Ramblers’ Association, are free to join - just meet up with the leader at the relevant station

Dorset LDWA Group Challenges

The Dorset Group from the Long Distance Walkers Association run a number challenge walks in Dorset.   Keep an eye on their web site at www.ldwa.org.uk/Dorset in the challenge walk section to find out more plus the results of previous challenges.    

The Rotary Club of Weymouth

See http://www.weymouth-rotary.co.uk/

Health/Starter Walks

Looking for short walks to start with? The walking for health site www.whi.org.uk has a walksfinder searchfacility to to find starter groups across the UK and here are some possibilities some more:

Christchurch Health Walks -  Christchurch Council and the Christchurch Community Partnership have produced a pack of self guided walks to help people have a healthier lifestyle by walking round the beauty spots of Christchurch.  Copies are available from Christchurch Information Centre, the Civic Offices and Christchurch and Highcliffe libraries or if your internet access is up to it and you have Acrobat Reader there is a 4 Megabyte version available from the following link. http://www.dorsetforyou.com/media/pdf/p/m/Christchurch_Health_Walks_Leaflets_FINAL.pdf

Bournemouth Monday Meanders & Weekend Health Walks - The Monday Morning Meanders are organised by the Community Parks and Countryside team most Mondays (bank holidays are excluded). Meanders start from 12 different outdoor locations in the Bournemouth area and feature wildlife spotting. For more information phone Richard on 01202 437833. For information about Saturday afternoon health walks from Muscliffe Community Centre car park contact Lawrence on 01202 437803.