Did you know you can play Poohsticks on THE Poohsticks bridge? You’ll be in good company if you do, it’s so popular that there’s even a little dam created by everyone’s poohsticks that have headed downstream over the years! It’s such a fun thing to do and you definitely don’t have to be a kid to enjoy it, in fact there were way more adults playing than children when we visited!
You can also make the pretty forest trail to Poohsticks Bridge into a treasure hunt - you can find Owl’s, Piglet’s and Winnie the Pooh’s houses, which are all hidden just off trail. We’ll tell you where to look so you don’t miss out.
If you’re after a longer stroll, you can also do the ‘Pooh Walk’ which is located just down the road. We’re sharing details on both the Poohsticks Bridge Walk and the Pooh Walk in this guide.
The treasure hunt & walk to Poohsticks Bridge
The stats
Distance: 0.6 miles (1 km) each way
Elevation gain: 50m
Difficulty: Easy
Starting the trail
Starting from the Pooh Car Park (details below), you head down the wide gravel track.
Just seconds into the walk you’ll see a path leading off to the right, this takes you to a series of wooden forts in the woods. They make for a great spot for kids to play in before you continue along the main path.
The wooden fort could be Eeyore’s house, but it didn’t have the little teddies that you’ll find at the other houses.
The trail heads gently downhill with the forest on either side of you. It’s quite open, as you’re not under the forest canopy, so it doesn’t feel like a proper woodland walk, but it’s nice nevertheless.
To Owl and Piglet’s Houses
Once you reach the forest, it’s time to keep an eye out for Owl and Piglet’s houses. After we visited, we dug out an old Winnie the Pooh book to see the likeness of the houses along the trail. Safe to say that whoever created them had a superb eye for detail, even down to the signs at each one.
After 550m (from the car park) you’ll spot Owl’s house, high up on one of the trees, close to the main path. Piglet’s and Pooh’s houses are less obvious, but everyone will likely spot Owl’s house.
You can see the likeness below, even down to the sign saying “PLEZ CNOKE IF AN RNSR IS NOT REQID”.
Piglet’s house isn’t as easy to spot from the trail, but it’s only 20m from Owl’s house (located a touch further into the woods). It’s probably easier to see it by heading through the wood for a couple of minutes, rather than continuing on the main trail.
Look out for the bright yellow teddy, which helps it stand out in the sea of green and brown. Piglet’s house has a little door in the tree and a Winnie the Pooh teddy sat beside a pot of honey.
Look up into the tree and you’ll spot a little balcony above where piglet is located. It’s very cute!
We couldn’t fathom how the teddies were in such good condition, maybe somebody replaces them from time to time?
To Poohsticks Bridge
Once you’re back on the main trail you’ll continue heading gently downhill and soon come to a bench seat and clearing.
This is where you want to collect your poohsticks. If you wait until you’re at the bridge you’ll likely be disappointed, because unless you brave the stream to collect some from the poohsticks dam, you’re unlikely to find any!
However, in the clearing there are loads of fallen branches and twigs and you can collect enough for as many games as you like. It’s important to only take sticks which have fallen, so you don’t spoil the trees themselves.
After collecting your stash you have another 200m of now flat gravel track to reach the bridge. There are some nice wildflowers along this stretch in summer.
You’ll then arrive at Poohsticks Bridge. Let the games commence!
Poohsticks Bridge and Pooh’s house
Although this Poohsticks Bridge is in the original location where Christopher Robin and AA Milne played, it did have to be partly rebuilt in 1979 due to wear and tear on the original following Winnie the Pooh’s fame!
I found the little poohsticks dam hilarious, it’s really sweet to see everyone enjoying a game no matter what the age.
Our games had an extra element of excitement as we needed to try and avoid the little dog who was collecting sticks as they came down the river, as well as the various snags in the water.
After visiting the bridge, before retracing your steps back to the car park, it’s time to look for Pooh’s house. To find it, cross over the bridge and follow the path for 65m. You’ll then see a little path on the left leading to the house.
All the houses are cute, but Pooh’s is the most special. You’ll see a little wooden door with honey pots (and honey!) outside it, as well as a mailbox to the right.
It’s been built to perfectly recreate Pooh’s house from the books, which you can see in the illustration below:
“…Winnie-the-Pooh lived in a forest all by himself under the name of Sanders.
‘What does ‘under the name’ mean?’ asked Christopher Robin.
‘It means he had the name over the door in gold letters and lived under it.’”
A.A. Milne, “Winnie-the-Pooh: the Complete Collection of Stories and Poems”
Open the door and you’ll see Winnie the Pooh inside and if you open the mail box you’ll find actual mail people have written to Pooh inside. It’s adorable and a must if you’re visiting with kids.
Once you’re ready to leave, you head back the same way. Much of the path is uphill on the way back, not steep by any means, but not as leisurely as the way down!
Where to park for Poohsticks Bridge
To reach Poohsticks Bridge via the quickest trail (you could also walk from the village of Hartfield in Sussex) you need to park at Pooh car park, postcode TN7 4EX. At time of writing this car park is still free, but others in the area have introduced fees, so this one may follow suit.
The car park isn’t huge, but we visited in the middle of the day in the July school holidays and still got a spot.
Note that there aren’t any toilets or facilities of any kind at the car park, or along the trail.
The Winnie the Pooh Walk: short vs long trail
There is a long and short version of the Winnie the Pooh walks, and both begin from the same car park (which is not the same car park as for Poohsticks Bridge). It’s only really worth doing the longer one if you fancy a longer walk, as there isn’t really much to see and it does include a few hills.
We did the longer version and it’s pleasant enough, but by no means a must do. If you only want to do the shorter version then you’d follow the same route as in the notes below, but when you get to Piglet’s sandpit you turn back to the car park.
You could do an even shorter walk by using Quarry car park, but this would be so short as to almost not be a walk at all!
The Winnie the Pooh Circular Trail
The stats
Short walk distance: 0.6 miles (1km)
Elevation gain: 20m
Difficulty: Easy and flat
Long circuit distance: 2.4 miles (3.8km)
Elevation gain: 100m
Difficulty: Easy but not flat
Summary: The first half of the walk - which is also the short version of the trail - is mostly flat. There is the odd gentle incline, but it’s very easy. The terrain is also good. The longer circuit walk does have a few hills and sandy bits, which slow you down a bit.
It’s also easy, but the hills make it less leisurely than the short walk. Despite the fact the walk is technically in Ashdown Forest, most of the walk is out on the heath and exposed to the elements, so you won’t get much shelter from sun, wind or rain.
The Enchanted Place and AA Milne memorial
From the Gills Leap car park (details below) both the long and short walks follow the same path. You head through the little patch of woodland and out onto the heath.
There’s a log with a Winnie the Pooh quote on it before you soon pass a bench seat with lovely views over the countryside. This is a great spot to look out for the resident Exmoor ponies, it was beautiful to watch them gallop across the heath.
Roughly 350m into the walk you’ll see a little patch of woodland to the right of the main path. This is Gills Lap Clump, aka The Enchanted Place.
There’s even a sign that quotes Winnie the Pooh with “I’m rumbly in my tumbly. Time for something sweet.”
All of the spots along this walk require you to know the Winnie the Pooh stories to really appreciate them, otherwise just think of it as a nice heath walk.
From The Enchanted Place you head back onto the main path and a couple of hundred metres later, on the left, you’ll see a trail leading down to a lone pine tree.
This is the scene of the famous Heffalump trap! Back on the main trail and you’ll see another path on the left, roughly 180m later.
This is where you’ll find the AA Milne and EH Shepard (the Winnie the Pooh illustrator) memorial stone. There’s a bench seat and a lovely view.
Finishing the short walk: to Roo’s sandpit
The last stop on the short version of the walk is Roo’s sandpit. Head right from the memorial stone, along the path you came in on. Look for the path on the left a couple of minutes later. It’s not as obvious, but you’ll see it if you keep an eye out.
It’s a narrow trail between the trees and leads to Roo’s sandpit 50m later.
Now you definitely need your imagination for this one because it’s not even a sandpit! It’s a sandy quarry which is now largely full of grass and trees.
After taking a peek you would then retrace your steps back to the car park to complete the short walk.
To do the longer trail you continue past the quarry and you’ll soon see Quarry car park. Head through the car park and over the road.
You’ll see a grassy path leading downhill. You’re now on your ‘expotition’ to the North Pole!
To the North Pole and Eeyore’s sad and gloomy place
You’ll follow the grassy path downhill and within a few minutes come to a junction. Head left and you’ll quickly come to a small woodland, this is 100 Aker (really 500 acre) wood.
Sadly it’s only a really short section of the walk, I’d hoped to spend a bit more time in the woods, but it’s almost entirely in open heathland.
Just a few hundred metres later you’ll come to a small bridge over the stream, and this is the North Pole!
From here you’ll begin heading uphill. The hill is about 250m long and not overly steep, but you definitely know you’re going uphill.
The top of this hill is technically Eeyore’s sad and gloomy place - the reality is that it’s just a trail junction!
At this point you head right, following the sandy path (which is now flat) along the heath. It will bend right 400m later.
It’s pleasant enough, but as mentioned, this second half of the walk is not the most exciting! Roughly 450m after the trail bends right you’ll come to another junction and keep straight.
Just 400m beyond this point you’ll see the road ahead of you and bear slightly left before crossing over the road and into the car park.
Where to park for the Winnie the Pooh walks
The best place to park for the Winnie the Pooh walks is the Gills Lap car park, postcode TN22 3JD
This car park does have a fee, currently that’s:
Up to 1 hour: £2
Up to 2 hours: £2.50
Up to 4 hours: £4
All-day: £5
If you’re doing the short walk, then paying for an hour will be fine. If you’re doing the longer walk, then you may want to pay for 2 hours to make it a bit more leisurely (especially as it’s only 50p more). You can pay by phone, but the phone signal is patchy in this area, so you’ll likely have to pay with coins or card.
As mentioned you could also park at Quarry car park for an even shorter walk, which has the same fees as the Gills Lap car park.
The Pooh Corner Cafe and Winnie the Pooh Museum
To round off a perfect Winnie the Pooh based day, head to the cafe at Pooh Corner in the village of Hartfield. Christopher Robin used to visit Sackville Cottage (as it was formerly known) when it used to be a sweet shop and bakery.
It’s a gorgeous cottage, built in 1703, with both indoor and outdoor seating. It does get busy on weekends and in the school holidays, though we had no problem getting a table in the July summer holidays when we visited around midday. It did get busier a little later.
It has a typical tearoom menu and whilst the food and coffee will not win any awards, I loved all the Winnie the Pooh crockery and original illustrations covering the walls.
There’s also a small museum which is free to visit and worth a little poke around.
Parking in the village is free, though spaces close to the cafe fill up first, so you may end up walking a little way down the road if it’s busy.
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