Last Updated on 21 January 2025 by Colette
Check out details of the 2025 Stick Man Trail at Delamere Forest here
For a dog walk with a difference this autumn, Forestry England are inviting you to enjoy their new “Forest Walkies” routes featuring Wallace & Gromit.
The Forest Walkies routes can be found in 22 forests across the country including Delamere Forest.
The routes have been developed in partnership with Aardman and Ordnance Survey and feature activities to do with your dog including encouraging your dog to sit still while you count up to 30, high-fiving your canine chum (I know Poppy could manage this one as it was a daft trick I taught her when she was a puppy!), and encouraging them to lie still while you both enjoy looking up at the trees (she definitely wouldn’t manage this!). There’s a cheeky photo opp at the end of the route too.
As well as enjoying a fabulous walk in the forest, there’s a chance to win your dog a fabulous holiday – and the whole family can go too!
Routes will also be plotted on Ordnance Survey’s Maps app to help you navigate your way around and you’ll find more information about the routes and be able to enter the competition from the app too. The Delamere Forest route is 3.77km (or just under 2.5 miles) and should take you about an hour.
There is an activity pack available to buy (priced at £5) before you go on your Forest Walkies, with a beautifully designed tote bag featuring Wallace and Gromit striding out on their own forest walk as a special gift for dog owners. Inside is a cute dog bandana as a gift for the most important member of the group. You’ll also find a leaflet to enter the competition as well as a fun crossword puzzle to be just like Wallace and Gromit, with clues on the route panels to solve on your forest walk.
One lucky dog (and their family) will be in with the chance of winning an amazing Forest Holidays cabin break worth £1500, where they can put their paws up and relax! Details of how to enter can be found in the activity pack and also on the Forestry England website.
Bridgette Hall, Forestry England Head of Recreation, said:
“We can’t wait to welcome dogs and their owners for their Forest Walkies with this brand-new campaign. The forest is the perfect place for dogs to have fun, exercise and stay healthy all year round. As well as being a beautiful environment for us as we take our dogs for a walk, it’s also a place full of enrichment for them with sights and smells to keep your dog happy and stimulated. Dogs and their owners are incredibly important visitors to the nation’s forests, and we are looking forward to seeing some very waggy tails and bright eyes as they experience this grand day out! All our dogs deserve a treat, and this is the perfect way to give it to them. I know my spaniel is going to love every minute of our Forest Walkies.”
To keep dogs and people safe when visiting the nation’s forests, Forestry England asks everyone to follow the forest dog code. This means keeping your dog close and in sight, bagging their poo and either putting it in a bin if available or taking it home with you (we highly recommend a Dicky Bag!), and following signs around the forest to protect wildlife and other forest visitors.
As well as Delamere Forest, Forestry England’s Forest Walkies routes can be found at:
- Haldon Forest Park, Devon
- Cardinham Woods, Cornwall
- Alice Holt Forest, Surrey
- Bedgebury National Pinetum and Forest, Kent
- Grizedale Forest, Cumbria
- Whinlatter Forest, Cumbria
- Mallards Pike, Forest of Dean
- Wyre Forest, Shropshire
- Westonbirt, The National Arboretum, Gloucestershire
- Dalby Forest, North Yorkshire
- Fineshade Wood, Northamptonshire
- Hicks Lodge, Leicestershire
- Cannock Chase, Staffordshire
- Sherwood Pines, Nottinghamshire
- Salcey Forest, Northamptonshire
- Jeskyns Community Woodland, Kent
- Hamsterley Forest, County Durham
- Wendover Woods, Buckinghamshire
- Gisburn Forest, Lancashire
- Kielder Forest, Northumberland
Have a read of these posts next:
Dog friendly pubs and cafes in Manchester
Our favourite family friendly dog walks
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