Forest bathing in Dorset

Dorset's woodland sits mostly on the heathy sands of the east and the chalk of the north. Moors Valley Country Park and Forest near Ringwood is the big Forestry England site, Scots pine and heath beside the Moors River. Wareham Forest is more pine and heath on the way to Purbeck, and Puddletown Forest with Thorncombe Wood near Dorchester is the country Thomas Hardy wrote about, pine plantation over older oak and birch. In the north, Garston Wood near Sixpenny Handley is an RSPB reserve of hazel coppice and oak on Cranborne Chase, and Kingston Lacy has its beech avenue and old parkland near Wimborne.

Forest bathing in Dorset tends toward pine scent and soft sandy ground. A session is two or three hours of slow walking and stillness in a small group, often with tea afterwards, and the pine woods are usable in every season. Each guide's profile gives their own dates, venues and prices.

Moors Valley is the easy first visit, with a visitor centre, cafe, pay on exit parking and surfaced, level trails. Thorncombe Wood has a car park and visitor centre next to Hardy's Cottage and is much quieter.