Forest bathing in Herefordshire

Herefordshire is quiet, rural and well wooded by English standards. Haugh Wood near Mordiford is a Forestry England wood of ancient oak and birch on a ridge above the Wye, known for butterflies. Queenswood Country Park on Dinmore Hill between Hereford and Leominster has an arboretum alongside oak woodland. Croft Castle in the north has avenues of ancient oak and sweet chestnut and the wooded Fishpool Valley, and Brockhampton near Bromyard is old oak woodland and orchard. Mortimer Forest runs along the Shropshire border above Ludlow, mostly conifer with oak in the valleys.

A session here is two or three hours of slow walking and stillness in a small group, with the guide offering simple invitations to notice what is around you and a hot drink at the end. The county's woods are rarely crowded even at weekends. The guides below give their own dates, venues and prices on their profiles.

Queenswood is the easiest first visit, with a car park (charges apply), cafe, toilets and surfaced paths through the arboretum, and it sits on the A49 bus route between Hereford and Leominster. Haugh Wood has a free car park and waymarked trails.