Health issues have meant we’ve not been up for our usual weekend hikes. But the sun finally came out and we wanted to make the most of it: so we wracked our brains for an old, simple route with amazing views but no stiff climbs. Eventually we worked out a little circular that started high and kept mostly to the ridge, giving exactly what we needed.
Starting in the small Dorset Wildlife Trust Lyscombe car park, this route takes you around the crest of the horseshoe – Lyscombe Hill into Hog Hill – with wide views most of the way round.
Although you’re up on a ridge, you’ve cheated and parked the car near the top, so the incline is very gradual – you really don’t have to earn the views you get.
At the top of Lyscombe Hill is one of our favourite lunch spots (DWT obviously agree, as they have now placed a bench there) – take a while to sit and face into the horseshoe: it’s a long view all the way to the coast, and it never gets old. We sat for a long time in the hazy spring sunshine, watching a pair of red kites soaring back and forth, occasionally being harried by the furious local rooks.
Coming down the other side, we chose not to take the shorter option up the road back to the car – not only because we’re not fans of road walking, even on a very quiet lane like this, but also because it involved a really steep hill section. Instead, we added a little 1.5-mile loop on the other side of the road, which was a lovely way to finish and brought us out right opposite the car park.
It was such a nice little route which I know we’ll return to again and again.
The whole circuit took us just two hours at a very slow saunter – we deliberately took our time and enjoyed every step.
