Knightwood Oak New Forest – Relaxing Hike and Photography

I pull in, the only car currently in the car park. My tires crunch over the impacted gravel as I take my pick of any one of the 10 or 12 available spaces. Here in Hampshire, the New Forest trees loom over, but I am still a few hundred yards from the main reason for my visit, the Knightwood Oak.

Nestled amongst thousands of others, the Knightwood Oak is one of the largest and oldest trees in the New Forest. At the time of typing, this behemoth is approaching 600 years old, despite being pollarded almost 150 years ago.

Affectionally known as the ‘Queen of the Forest’, one of the reasons for my visit here sits hidden about 300 meters to my right. However, this isn’t the only reason for my journey here today. 

Arrival at the Knightwood Oak Car Park in the New Forest

As with many of the car parks dotted around the New Forest, there is a maze of footpaths and tracks. These creep and crawl through the vegetation that makes up the UK’s 14th National Park. I am venturing out on a 2.3-mile hike, following a popular route on All Trails.

I lean forward over the steering wheel of my campervan and look up at the sky. Sunlight pours down. It isn’t warm, but it is bright. There will be no soft, even light today. Instead, the scene is full of harsh contrasts, with bright spots and deep shadows where details disappear.

This may be a morning of walking, not photography.

I set off, the steady crunch of tyres now replaced by the sharper rhythm of feet on gravel. 

As I wander, dwarfed by towering trees, my fears about the light are confirmed. Each time I raise the camera in search of a composition, the problem is clear—the clash of deep shadow and glaring sun will not yield the photographs I’d hoped for.

The trail snakes through the Hampshire forest, taking me further away from the Knightwood Oak. The undulating paths, ever so slightly dip, then rise. I move from areas of shade, with the partial canopy cover, into open areas where the heath stretches out on both sides.

If the chill in the air doesn’t signify that autumn is on the way, the ever-changing colours, do. A bank of golden fern catches my eye. Lit up by the streaming sun, while the dark evergreen trees remain in shadow behind it. It is a photo, not a very good one, but I feel the need to take one of something. Anything.

A tall fern stands surrounded by thin trunks. Almost imprisoned. Trapped. It’s dark green again, contrasted by the golden fern that grows at its feet.

The Video of My Knightwood Oak New Forest Hike

The walk continues, and I come to a decision. Left or right? A quick glance at my AllTrails app (whose maps I have downloaded for offline use) tells me I need to go right. At the junction, a pile of newly cut logs sits trail-side. Pine Trees, tall, thin, and after some online research, could be Scots or Corsican, loom over them, like parents mourning their children.

I’ve already given up on getting any noteworthy photos on this hike, but that doesn’t stop me from snapping away.

Dead tree trunks, leaves floating in what I believe to be rainwater, and even the odd colourful mushroom.

As the trail takes me back towards the car park, and ultimately the Knightwood Oak, more unfortunate trees suffer, this time at the hand of nature.

Several huge trunks lie on their side, giving us a unique view of their upturned roots. The open hole they leave behind is ripe for another to take its place

A small fern grows near where the trunk once stood proud and tall, signifying perhaps the circle of life. The contrast is seen yet again, this time with the semi-vibrant orange against the dead surroundings of the tree.

The Turning point

I find myself at the turning point, as the hiking trail turns back towards the car park. Ahead, the same winding paths, burnt ferns, and lack of photo opportunities await me.

It is not long before I make it back to the car park, and I am crossing the road for the 300-meter walk to the Knghtwood Oak. The legacy trail, as earmarked on the All Trails App, is no longer passable “to protect te the veteran trees in the area, the old trail is considered unsafe for people to use”.

I read two things into this. 

1 – Are we not giving the veteran trees the respect and space they need? Are we climbing, touching, and generally just being too human for them?

2 – Are loose branches falling, and potentially a hazard for people?

The Knightwood Oak

Either way, fear not. Access to this 600-year-old oak tree is still possible thanks to a new waymarked path that has been mapped out. I obediently trudge the new path, ignoring all else, as my gaze follows the curve of the relatively newly laid gravel path. 

The tree looms into view, and it is somewhat of an anti-climax. I am sorry if this is not the response you were hoping for. I am expecting something grander. Something more dominating, and something a bit more, well, smarter. If I recall, the behemoths along the Tall Trees Trail loom larger.

Circling the 8m girth of the trunk is a fence. The fence sits at least another 10m from the bark. Between the fence and the tree, it is somewhat overgrown. However, looking beyond the untidiness, which to be honest, could be intentional to breed wildlife, insects and bugs and the like.

The seconds tick by as I stand here, and the Knightwood Oak begins to speak for itself. Six centuries of being the rain, wind and human interference, and still it stands — scarred, weathered, but alive.

The so-called “Queen of the Forest” might not dazzle with instant spectacle, but she carries something heavier: a quiet authority that only age can grant.

It’s less a photo opportunity, more a moment of perspective.

I leave not with the shot I hoped for, but with the feeling that I’ve stood before a witness to history — and that’s worth more than any composition.