Hertfordshire Walker: Walk 56: Northaw Great Wood Yellow Trail

2.75 miles (4.4km) with 87m of total ascent

The yellow trail at Northaw Great Wood

The yellow trail at Northaw Great Wood is one of our favourite midweek walks. It's got plenty shade, and the woodland changes with the seasons making it feel like a different walk each time we do it. In the spring and summer the bracken and foxgloves stand tall, in the autumn sweet chestnuts and hazelnuts fall to the ground, and the woodland is beautiful after a fall of winter snow.

There is a large car park (location - https://w3w.co/lunch.wounds.jelly) and you will need to have £1 in change for the parking fee honesty box. There are toilets next to the car park but there are no refreshment facilities or any pubs or cafes within easy walking distance of Northaw Great Wood. You will find picnic tables and benches along all three trails, and visitors are encouraged to take their rubbish home for environmental reasons.

Northaw Great Wood is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). The 223.6-hectare (553-acre) was once part of a huge Norman wood with mostly birch, oak and hornbeam. The historic woodland is managed by Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council with help from volunteers who belong to Friends of Northaw Great Wood.

Fly through preview of walk

If you want to check what sort of landscape you will be crossing before you set off on this walk you can view a 30-second video (below) of the route. The video is created using the free version of Relive.

Directions

Map for Walk 56: Northaw Great Wood Yellow Trail
Click on the map above for a larger version
Created on Map Hub by Hertfordshire Walker
Elements © Thunderforest © OpenStreetMap contributors
There is an interactive map at the foot of this page

Those with GPS devices can download GPX or KML files for this walk. We've added What3Words location references for those who use that system. If you print these walks you might want to use the green PrintFriendly icon at the bottom of these directions to delete elements such as photographs.

The map and GPX navigation file on this page are for the yellow trail which is 2.75 miles and involves 87m of total ascent. We have also created a map and GPX navigation files for both the blue trail, which is 1.45 miles, and the red trail which is 0.75 miles.

There are signposts for all three trails, but not all forks have markers so it's easy to get lost. That is why we decided to create GPX files for each trail and add them as separate walks.

The honesty box (location - https://w3w.co/desks.prone.mass) for the £1 parking fee is in the wall of the green building (see image below).