Tennyson's Black Down

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Our view

"Follow in the footsteps of a distinguished Victorian Poet Laureate on this gloriously wooded, high-level walk in the county's northwest corner."

Walk directions

Turn left out of the car park and immediately left again on a rising path to the right of the National Trust sign. Keep left at the junction, then bear right at the fork and keep right just before a pond, also right, on the Sussex Border Path and Serpent Trail.

Take the second right at a junction of paths. Keep left at the fork, still on the Sussex Border Path, and pass over a crossroads and through a gate. Veer left just beyond it at the fork and drop down to some rhododendron bushes. Turn sharp left here through a gate and follow the path through a tunnel of trees.

Bear left at a drive by a house and when, after a few paces, it curves right, go straight on to the right of a pond through the trees to join the road. Turn left and then immediately right at the sign for Sheetlands. Follow the tarmac drive through the trees down to a bridleway sign. Go left up the bank, veering right at the top, and keep to the path as it runs above the drive. Pass above houses and turn right, just after a thatched house, by a waymarker post. Passing some Gothic wooden gates in a hedge to your right, descend an enclosed path, which bends left at the bottom and immediately right by a pond and climbs quite steeply.

Turn left at a signposted T-junction and then, ignoring a track to the left, follow the driveway past an ornate lamp standard. After 150m, turn left on a signposted path, along a line of trees and over stiles. Cross over a driveway and take the path opposite, heading towards Fernhurst. Join a tarmac drive, turn left at the road and then walk through the village to the Red Lion, overlooking the spacious green.

On leaving the inn, turn immediately left and follow the tarmac drive, which soon becomes a woodland track. Ignore a track off to the left and later bear left then right over a stream. Turn left by a wooden barn and cottages and veer right at the next waymarked fork. Now begin a moderate and perennially muddy ascent through the trees. Cross a wide track and continue the climb up through the woodland. Keep right by a house called Reeth. The track bends round to the left and runs up to a junction with a minor road.

Make for a signposted bridleway on the left. After a few paces reach a National Trust sign. Keep left here and follow the sunken path as it climbs between trees, steeply in places. On the higher ground, follow the path as it winds pleasantly between bracken and silver birch. Fork right past a seat which takes advantage of a magnificent view, partly obscured by trees. Veer right, keeping the seat and the view on your right and walk along the level to the curved stone seat at what is known as the Temple of the Winds.

Take the path running up behind the seat, very soon keeping right and right again. Keep ahead past a path running off sharp right and then a flight of steps, and veer left or right at the next signposted fork: both paths merge.

Continue ahead and veer right at the next fork. Keep ahead at the next junction, now following part of the Sussex Border Path again and retracing your initial outward steps. Veer to the right at the fork, still following the long distance trail, and head back down the road to the entrance to the car park.

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Location

Nearest postcode:

Additional information

Terrain - Woodland paths and tracks, farmland and some minor roads

Landscape - Wooded hills on Sussex/Surrey Border

Dog friendliness - Off lead away from car park and roads

Parking - Car park off Tennyson's Lane (by National Trust sign for Blackdown), near Aldworth House to the southeast of Haslemere

Toilets en route - None on route

Walks in West Sussex Dog-friendly walks in West Sussex

About the walk

Black Down lies in some of the loveliest countryside in southern England. At 919ft (280m), this prominent, pine-clad summit is the highest point in the county, yet for some reason it has never achieved the popular status of other high Sussex landmarks such as Devil’s Dyke, Ditchling Beacon or...

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Been on this walk?

Send us photos or a comment about this route. Or recommend a route of your own.

Find out more

Walking in Safety

Read our tips to look after yourself and the environment when following this walk.

Learn more

Get an AA guide

Explore our range of ‘50 Walks in’ guides - they’re the ideal companion for a ramble.

Learn more

About the area

Divided from East Sussex back in 1888, West Sussex has a variety of landscapes and coastal scenery, but it is the spacious and open South Downs with which the county is most closely associated. There are plenty of walking routes in the South Downs National Park, cycling routes by the sea or visitors can explore the pretty town of Arundel with its historic castle and buildings.