Forest bathing at Hucking Estate

The Hucking Estate is a Woodland Trust site of almost 700 acres on the North Downs above Hollingbourne. The ancient woodland has oak standards over coppiced hornbeam, field maple, ash and hazel, with some sweet chestnut. Around it, former arable fields have been planted with native oak, hornbeam and birch since 1998, or returned to chalk grassland. Look for older traces as you go: an ancient droveway, medieval wood banks and old chalk pits, two of which are now bat roosts. The Trust counts it among its top ten bluebell woods.

The main car park at the Church Road entrance holds only about a dozen cars and has a height barrier, which keeps visitor numbers low. Two waymarked routes start here: the blue route is about 1.7 km and the red Landscape Trail about 4.8 km. Paths are unsurfaced grass and earth and get slippery and muddy when wet, so wear boots outside summer. On a clear day the escarpment along the southern edge looks out across the Weald. There are no toilets.