Hanchurch Woods

Hanchurch Woods is a scenic woodland area close to Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. It has a number of lovely walks and a picnic area, surrounded by wonderful wildlife. Wandering through Hanchurch Woods allows you to experience nature and the beautiful Staffordshire countryside. Here are 5 Hanchurch Woods walks which can be found on the Staffordshire Walks App.

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Hanchurch Woods

Walk of 2 miles to 7.5 miles

This first Hanchurch Woods walk is a nice and simple circular walk (2 miles) that takes you through the Hanchurch Wood Plantation and along quiet country lanes surrounded by pretty open countryside. Some of these woods are made up of commercial conifer plantations and this offers you a peaceful and pretty woodland walk.

Photo © Colin Park (cc-by-sa/2.0)

This second walk option (2.5 miles) is a lovely route that heads in a different direction around Hanchurch Woods to the first walk. This one instead takes you around the peaceful woodlands of Harley Thorn where you can climb to higher ground and take in some panoramic views of the rolling pastures and arable fields.

This third route option (3.5 miles) is basically an extension of the first route and if you head clockwise, it takes you through the Hanchurch Woods Plantation and along quiet country lanes surrounded by lovely open countryside. The extension then takes you past the Hanchurch pools where you can see marsh marigold and watercress growing and often you can see wild deer along this route. Please note that there is a significant section of walking along a quiet country lane on this route, so please be careful here. There is also short and steep climb towards the end of the route as you head back up through the woods to the start.

This fourth walk (6 miles) is basically a figure of eight walk that combines the second and third together to create one long walk in this area of lovely peaceful woodland and countryside. As with the third route, there is a long section of walking along a quiet country lane on this walk, so please be careful here. There is also a steep and short climb back up the woods at one point if you are walking clockwise.

The final Hanchurch Woods walk on offer is basically a very long extension to the second route and is 7.5 miles long. So you still enjoy the woodland and views of the Harley Thorns woodland, but after that you head out on an epic adventure on public footpaths through mainly open farmland until you reach the village of Swynnerton. The main bonus from this extension is it adds a lovely country pub to the route in Swynnerton and you'll certainly work up an appetite with the extra distance walked. Please note, there is some quiet country lane walking on this route.