Highgate Wood

Highgate Wood - a taste of real woods in the middle of London, great place for walks, to play ball with lil ones or have coffee and a chat with mates in a cafe. It's such a charming place, I would definitely recommend as a place to relax after busy week of working.

I can really appreciate the beauty of this place as a stand alone area, when coupled with the fact it is in the city of London I think it's fairly outstanding.

When you go running through this area it is a bit surreal. It is easy to forget that other people are about, the dirt paths and over hanging trees, the squirrels and birds, it's all a bit country life in the 1800's.

They do have a cafe, large grassy area, catcher pits etc. All very good for families in the area, but the part I'm really into is getting lost in the maze of tracks, exploring the woods, taking pictures of the trees. I can't wait for it to snow!

This is an absolutely great place. I'm not too keen on the cafe, which I no longer use (I find it grossly overpriced for the quality of the service) but the grounds are perfect. It's a great place for jogging and exercising with its long lanes amongst massive trees and very well kept grounds. A great advantage for runners and families with small kids is that most dog owners always seem to be very conscious, and I have never seen chav bike racers or pitbulls speeding about. The only downside of the park are the idiots who leave their rubbish behind on the lawn after their fast food and beer summer "feasts", but I cannot imagine what could be done against that practice, short of getting a dedicated bobby to fine or slap the imbeciles until they learn. But I digress... It's a five star park, without a doubt.

Beautiful wood - went to my first ever Pagan Event (Pan's Picnic, 2006!) here and we had a massive picnic in a clearing and someone did a bit of a guided walk with interested people to tell us about the different types of trees!

A children's treasure hunt passed through too, with children dressed as fairies!

It's a very well cared for, well conserved family friendly wood, well worth a walk in!

There are several entrances to this interesting and ancient wood - and nature reserve, as it also is today. I enjoyed walking here last week (it is across the road from Highgate Wood, so a walk can include both). Many varieties of wild flower can be found here besides the great oaks and other tall trees, and the species of birds you may see include woodpeckers, blue tits, robins, sparrows, thrushes and wrens. There is also a cafe which has a separate review. The nearest Underground station is Highgate (Northern Line).

Beautiful, beautiful place excellently managed by the Corporation of London.

Highgate Wood proper is 70 acres of hornbeam woodland lying between Highgate tube station and Muswell Hill, with the 20-acre 'Queens Wood’, (managed by Haringey Council) on the other side of Muswell Hill Road towards Crouch End.

The woods are a joy to walk through at any time of year. Predominantly hornbeam, with oak and some wild cherry, they have a fresh green shimmer from early spring. There are bluebells and wood anemones too.

There are lots of paths through the woods, occasional small clearings, and a big grassy open space with cricket pitches. There’s an excellent children’s playground, a cafe, and a little hut full of exhibits of the local flora and fauna.

When I lived nearby I walked in the woods most days and found them always restorative and inspiring.

A very well kept park. This place has 11 park keepers. Mostly woodland with a large field, playground, cafe, cricket pitch and cricket nets. On a sunny day people of all ages wander round the pathway that circulates the woods, some jogging some with dogs but strictly no bicycles! Open whenever it’s light, you’ll see many cars parked outside on a Sunday. If you wander through the open woods there are many secluded spots with makeshift seating fashioned out of fallen trees can be a really nice place to escape from the concrete jungle with a good book and a flask of tea. Definately a good place to go for a relaxing walk after Sunday dinner and a very safe place due to the large number of staff who mostly live in the houses dotted around the park.

This is a very pretty little park. The gates I saw going in and out where amazing creation: tall, cast iron, with a design of leaves. Inside tarmac lanes wander through a wood. Near where I entered from Archway Road there’s a huge children’s play area, which was stuffed full of kids apparently having an amazing time. From there I walked on and found an open space with playing fields and a café building on one side. It turned out to have a snack bar window and a restaurant. I didn’t stop to eat, but there was a nice choice of tables inside, outside and in a covered area. The menu looked good with simple tasty basics like pasta.

Lovely, and you could almost believe you were out in the country somewhere. The only thing to spoil the illusion was the noise from the nearby busy road.