Description
After leaving Christchurch town and passing over the first two bridges on Bridge Street, walkers should at SZ16294 92853 turn right and follow the public footpath (it's a public right of way on OS maps). This paths heads around the back of the old Civic/Council office building and then into the back of the carpark area of 2Riversmeet leisure centre. Walkers should remain on the footpath until the junction at SZ 16426 92465 where the path splits - they should bear left here. It's then a really nice quite recently constructed footpath which takes them all the way around the edge of the golf course until it joins with the entrance to Stanpit Marsh Nature reserve at SZ16786 92454. From here there are two great options. 1) follow the shared cycle/foot path to rejoin the road (and existing Slow Ways route)at SZ 17203 92532, or 2) for a highly recommended but slight detour, they can walk around the rivers edge of Grimsbury Marsh / Stanpit Marsh with amazing views over Christchurch harbour towards Hengistbury Head, with the path taking the walker back to the main road right next to where they would if they took option 1. I live really close by to here and Option 2 is beautiful. Great for horses and bird life. Dogs need to be kept on a lead. Option 1 is also very nice and the benefit of both option 1 and 2 is that they both avoid approx 1.3km of road walking and take the walker on designated footpaths
After leaving Christchurch town and passing over the first two bridges on Bridge Street, walkers should at SZ16294 92853 turn right and follow the public footpath (it's a public right of way on OS maps). This paths heads around the back of the old Civic/Council office building and then into the back of the carpark area of 2Riversmeet leisure centre. Walkers should remain on the footpath until the junction at SZ 16426 92465 where the path splits - they should bear left here. It's then a really nice quite recently constructed footpath which takes them all the way around the edge of the golf course until it joins with the entrance to Stanpit Marsh Nature reserve at SZ16786 92454. From here there are two great options. 1) follow the shared cycle/foot path to rejoin the road (and existing Slow Ways route)at SZ 17203 92532, or 2) for a highly recommended but slight detour, they can walk around the rivers edge of Grimsbury Marsh / Stanpit Marsh with amazing views over Christchurch harbour towards Hengistbury Head, with the path taking the walker back to the main road right next to where they would if they took option 1. I live really close by to here and Option 2 is beautiful. Great for horses and bird life. Dogs need to be kept on a lead. Option 1 is also very nice and the benefit of both option 1 and 2 is that they both avoid approx 1.3km of road walking and take the walker on designated footpaths
Status
This route has been reviewed by 1 person.
There are no issues flagged.
Photos for Chrnew two
Photos of this route will appear when they are added to a review. You can review this route here.
Information
Route status - Live
Reviews - 1
Average rating -
Is this route good enough? - Yes (1)
There are currently no problems reported with this route.
Downloads - 2
Surveys
We are working to build-up a picture of what routes look like. To do that we are asking volunteers to survey routes so that we can communicate features, obstacles and challenges that may make a route desirable or not.
Slow Ways surveyors are asked to complete some basic online training, but they are not vetted. If you are dependent on the survey information being correct in order to complete a route, we recommend that you think critically about the information provided. You may also wish to wait until more than one survey has been completed.
Help people know more about this route by volunteering to submit a survey.
- Complete the survey training.
- Submit a survey for this route.
Geography information system (GIS) data
Total length
Maximum elevation
Minimum elevation
Start and end points
Christchurch
Grid Ref
SZ1578792824
Lat / Lon
50.73481° / -1.77765°
Easting / Northing
415,787E / 92,824N
What3Words
fails.brains.stole
New Milton
Grid Ref
SZ2425895175
Lat / Lon
50.75566° / -1.65747°
Easting / Northing
424,258E / 95,175N
What3Words
star.insolvent.reeling
| Christchurch | |
|---|---|
| Grid Ref | SZ1578792824 |
| Lat / Lon | 50.73481° / -1.77765° |
| Easting / Northing | 415,787E / 92,824N |
| What3Words | fails.brains.stole |
| New Milton | |
|---|---|
| Grid Ref | SZ2425895175 |
| Lat / Lon | 50.75566° / -1.65747° |
| Easting / Northing | 424,258E / 95,175N |
| What3Words | star.insolvent.reeling |
Sorry Land Cover data is not currently available for this route. Please check back later.
review
Andrew Davies
21 Jul 2026Thanks to Vanessa for proposing and drawing this new route, which I walked from Christchurch to New Milton. The original Chrnew One is well reviewed and verified, but this provides a much improved exit/entry at the Christchurch end. As her description explains, you avoid at least a mile of road walking to take footpaths through parks and reserves along the edge of Christchurch harbour, which is a beautiful route. I did not take the full detour out to Stanpit Marsh, but even the straighter way (her option one in the description) is still very nice. On reaching the sea at Mudeford, I strongly recommend taking the right turn to follow the path out to the point (around the car park) to see the entrance of the harbour (mouth of the Stour and Avon rivers) and the narrow channel, with great views across to Hengistbury Head.
Once on the seafront, I recommend keeping above the beach, to avoid walking on soft sand; fortunately there are good graded paths above, all the way along. There is a good cafe, the Beach Hut, at Friars Cliff for a half way stop. The next section had some great surprises: first the Steamer Point Woodlands, which is a drastic and welcome change of scenery from the beach below. Then there is the glorious view of Highcliffe Castle, where a 2-minute detour from the path enables you to see the outside at least. There is a short return to the seaside, then a turn inland along the beautiful Chewton Bunny reserve (great name).
The last section, along the main road into New Milton, is safe and efficient, but noisy and unpleasant. An alternative could be taking a loop detour back towards the sea through Barton, as has already been suggested in one of the reviews of the previous route. It would be nicer but would add a couple of miles to the journey.
Overall a very satisfactory improvement on the original route, all of it on good paths, and highly recommended!.
Share your views about this route, give it a star rating, indicate whether it should be verified or not.
Include information that will be useful to others considering to walk or wheel it.
You can add up to 15 photos.
Other Routes for Christchurch—New Milton See all Slow Ways
Review this better route and help establish a trusted network of walking routes.
Suggest a better route if it better meets our methodology.
Share your thoughts