Do · 13 June 2026

Off-lead and home by lunch — forest loops with a dog-friendly pub at the end.

Three off-lead woodland loops within 50 minutes of north London for a morning out with the dog. Each is 4.5★+ on AllTrails, each is a proper circular, and each has a dog-friendly pub for lunch afterwards. Dry, firm and green right now. Ranked from where I'd actually go.

Rickmansworth · Hertfordshire

Whippendell Woods & Cassiobury Park — the closest, and the best-rated.

5.6 km · 161 m · ~1h 30m · Loop · Easy · 35 min from N6 · AllTrails 4.6★ on 136 reviews · Pub: Cart & Horses 4.7★ on 1,011

The morning pick — shortest drive and the highest rating of the three. The loop runs through ancient woodland (a Site of Special Scientific Interest) down to the Grand Union Canal and the River Gade, then climbs back up through the trees, so it gives a Vizsla genuine variety rather than the same view for an hour. Off-lead through the council-owned woods; lead-on along the canal towpath and across the short golf-course section. This is the stretch of Whippendell that stood in for the Gungan forest in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace.

Lunch: the Cart & Horses at Sarratt, an independent country pub on the woodland edge with water bowls and a big garden, about ten minutes on from the Cassiobury car park. The Cha Cha café inside Cassiobury Park is the quicker option if you'd rather not move the car.

AllTrails · Walk start map · Pub map

Loughton · Essex

Epping Forest Beech Trail — the classic forest on the doorstep.

4.5 km · 104 m · ~1h 10m · Loop · Easy · 40 min from N6 · AllTrails 4.5★ on 215 reviews · Pub: Forest Gate Inn 4.5★ on 475

Dense beech and hornbeam, quiet early on, off-lead through the woodland — the nearest proper forest walk to home. A recent reviewer reported it dry and uncrowded with firm paths. One real caveat: the loop crosses Epping New Road, so lead-on at the two road crossings, and download the route before setting off because the waymarking thins out under leaf cover.

Lunch: the Forest Gate Inn on Bell Common, a 17th-century family-run free house on the forest edge — real fire, large beer garden, home-cooked food, CAMRA-listed ales, no TV or fruit machines. It's about ten minutes south of the finish, towards Epping town. The Owl at Lippitts Hill is the closer option if you'd rather not drive on.

AllTrails · Walk start map · Pub map

Wendover · Buckinghamshire

Wendover Woods & Boddington Hillfort — the one to make a morning of.

5.1 km · 126 m · ~1h 20m · Loop · Easy · 50 min from N6 · AllTrails 4.6★ on 146 reviews · Pub: King and Queen 4.6★ on 321

Slightly the longest drive, but it earns it: a Chilterns hilltop Forestry England site with well-made tracks, conifer-and-broadleaf woodland, a wildlife hide, an Iron Age hillfort and viewpoints over the vale. Off-lead through much of the wood. The draw for a family morning is the on-site Visitor Hub — café, toilets and a big maintained car park (paid: £7 for up to four hours). If you want the very best-rated loop here, the Firecrest Trail (4.7★, 5 km) starts from the same hub.

Lunch: the King and Queen in Wendover, the best-rated independent in the village and dog-friendly, ten minutes down the hill. Or Rumsey's Chocolaterie on the High Street if you'd rather a café treat with Rian.

AllTrails · Walk start map · Pub map