Blackwater Car Park

About Blackwater Car Park

Blackwater Car Park is situated on Rhinefield Ornamental Drive in the heart of the New Forest, close to Brockenhurst. It is a popular starting point for exploring Blackwater Arboretum and the surrounding woodland, with easy access to some of the area’s most impressive Douglas firs, redwoods and other ornamental trees.

The nearby Blackwater Arboretum contains a collection of trees from around the world, together with sensory sculptures inspired by the trees and woodland. The car park is also a convenient starting point for two waymarked walks: the short Blackwater Arboretum Trail and the longer Tall Trees Trail.

Blackwater is particularly useful for visitors looking for a relatively accessible woodland visit. The Arboretum Trail follows a fairly smooth gravelled surface with one gentle slope and has benches along the route. The car park also has toilets, a picnic area and designated accessible parking spaces. Dogs are welcome.

Facilities at Blackwater Car Park

Blackwater has 80 parking spaces, including 2 accessible spaces. There are 3 toilets, although Forestry England currently lists none of these as accessible toilets. A picnic area is available and dogs are permitted.

Parking charges apply, including for Blue Badge holders. Payment can be made using RingGo, and Forestry England currently lists Blackwater’s RingGo location code as 65510. The car park is open from 4am until 11pm.

Walking from Blackwater Car Park

Two waymarked walking trails can be accessed from Blackwater.

Blackwater Arboretum Trail is a short circular walk of approximately 0.75 km (0.5 miles), taking around 15 minutes. It passes a variety of trees from around the world as well as sensory sculptures inspired by the surrounding woodland. The route has a fairly smooth gravelled surface, one very gentle slope and benches along the way.

Tall Trees Trail is approximately 2.4 km (1.5 miles) and takes around 40 minutes. The route passes beneath Douglas firs and giant redwoods planted during Queen Victoria’s reign. Forestry England describes the surface as fairly smooth and gravelled, with a very gentle slope and frequent places to rest.

Dog Walking at Blackwater

Blackwater is a good starting point for woodland walks with a dog, with access to the Blackwater Arboretum, Tall Trees Trail and the wider network of tracks through Rhinefield Forest.

Dogs are welcome, but as elsewhere in the New Forest, they should be kept under effective control. Particular care should be taken around wildlife, livestock and other forest users. Conditions can also vary throughout the year, so some tracks may be wet or muddy after prolonged rain.

Our visit: We’ll add more detailed first-hand information here, including how busy the car park and surrounding paths are, suitable walking routes, places where dogs may need to be on a lead, ground conditions and other useful information for dog walkers.

Where is Blackwater Car Park?

Blackwater Car Park is on Rhinefield Ornamental Drive, between Brockenhurst and the A35 in the New Forest. It provides access to Blackwater Arboretum, the Tall Trees Trail and the surrounding Rhinefield woodland.

If you are using satellite navigation, What3Words or a mapping app, use the location information shown above. The Get Directions button will open the car park location in Google Maps.