Forest bathing at Cannock Chase Forest, Birches Valley

Cannock Chase was a medieval royal hunting forest and is now mainland England's smallest National Landscape, about 26 square miles of heath, wood pasture and forest in southern Staffordshire. Forestry England owns and manages Cannock Chase Forest, the wooded core, and Birches Valley off Penkridge Bank Road is its main base. From here waymarked walks head out into the trees, from the gentle Ladyhill Trail to the longer Fairoak Trail around the pools.

The visitor centre area is busy, with a café, cycle hire, Go Ape and family trails, and mountain bikers use single-track routes through the forest. For quiet, take the walking trails away from the centre; the Fairoak pools are a good place to slow down and sit. There is an easy access trail for those who want firm, level ground. The forest opens early every day except Christmas Day, with car park hours running later in summer. Rugeley's two stations are about two miles away.