Forest of Bowland

Bowland is around eight hundred square kilometres of blanket bog, heather moor and steep wooded cloughs rising to Ward's Stone at 561 metres. Forest here means a hunting reserve rather than trees; it was a royal chase and later private grouse moor, and access was refused so completely that it was among the last large upland areas in England opened to walkers, only after the 2000 access legislation took effect in 2005. Even now it receives a fraction of the visitors of the Dales next door. The hen harrier is the emblem of the area and Bowland has held most of England's breeding pairs in some years, though numbers have been very low. The Trough of Bowland is the road crossing between Dunsop Bridge and Lancaster, and Dunsop Bridge is often cited as close to the geographical centre of Great Britain.

Highlights

• The empty moor - upland that stayed closed to walkers until 2005.
• The Trough of Bowland - the narrow road crossing over the fells.
• The hen harriers - a species whose English breeding has centred on these moors.
• Dunsop Bridge - a village near the geographical centre of Great Britain.

When to go

April to October; heather colours the moor in August. Grouse shooting from mid-August can restrict some routes. The roads are narrow, unfenced and impassable in snow.

Before you go

There is very little infrastructure: few car parks, few marked paths, no visitor centres of note, and phone signal is poor. The moor is wet underfoot almost everywhere. Access land does not cover every fell and boundaries need checking on the map.

Nearby

Clitheroe and Pendle Hill lie south; the Yorkshire Dales are northeast.

Key facts