Minwear Forest is a beautiful place in Pembrokeshire to walk, enjoy the woodland view and reconnect with nature. We went along for a peaceful Sunday afternoon stroll. There are lots of paths to choose from but we decided to take the “Minwear 2.5k/1 hour Walk” to ensure we’d be back to the car before sunset.
There is free parking at Minwear Forest making this a lovely free day out. If you’re staying at Bluestone National Park Resort you can even walk from there.
If you’re travelling by car turn off the A40 (from either direction) onto the A4075 towards Tenby (and Bluestone). Take the first road on the right towards Blackpool Mill. Follow this road past the mill and the Minwear Forest car park (Sat Nav Postcode: SA67 8AA) is on the right. If this car park is full there is an over-spill clearing on the left (shown above) before you get to the official car-park. I park here on busy days but during our recent winter visit it was quiet enough to park in the main car park. You could also drive on a little further to the picnic area and begin your walk there.
For more information on this walk download the Natural Resources Wales ThePlacesToGo App or the ViewRanger App. These are handy to help you keep on the right path for the hour walk (in the past we’ve walked a lot further on and had to come back rather than following a circular route).
Snapshots of Minwear Forest
Minwear has been thickly wooded for centuries. The ready availability of timber encouraged the establishment of several local industries. Oak trees were used for shipbuilding and wood was converted into charcoal to fuel the iron foundry at nearby Blackpool Mill. As these industries declined conifer trees were planted in place of many areas of former deciduous woodland.
Tree stumps make the best natural seats.
With fallen leaves on the pathway it looks more like October than January.
Izzy spotted this pile of branches- perfect for making shelters in the wood.
Picnic and Viewing Area
We stopped at a little picnic area with wood benches carved from tree trunks.
Continuing Our Walk
For the short walk keep following these signs (and checking the map on the app). If you have the time, a long walk exploring the different routes makes a great day out.
This walk does take you across a road. It’s quiet but do cross carefully.
In Minwear Forest the trees reach up to the Moon!
I took my eye off the map (it’s easy to get distracted in such stunning woods) and found we had missed a turning along the way and walked on too far again. We found a path to bring us back on route.
Minwear Car Park and Picnic Area
We reached the other car park and picnic area.
We were meant to stay on our side of the road and walk along the path opposite the picnic area. The kids wanted to cross and see this area so we made our own pathway back instead.
It was a good choice as it took us down some wooden steps offering more stunning views of the forest.
Even with our detours we managed to get back to the car before dark (just!). When we have more time we will continue the walk a bit further to enjoy the views of the Cleddau Estuary and look out for waterside birds like herons. The woods are a great place to see woodland birds including long-tailed tits, great spotted woodpeckers and tree-creepers too.
Back to the beginning (and back to the lovely woolly hat- I hope the owner found it!). It was a lovely peaceful walk, perfect for blowing the cobwebs away and getting much needed fresh air!
Have you visited Minwear Woods? Which route do you take?
Pin this post for later:
Stunning place – I’ll certainly bare thos in mind next time I’m down that way
What a wonderful place – will be visiting later this year too
We love walking through the woods!