Dog-friendly walks in Thetford

Four and a half miles and around two hours on wide sandy forest rides, combining the green and blue waymarked walks through mature Corsican pine and young replanting to make a proper half-morning out. Start at the Lynford Stag car park signed off the A134 north of Thetford, postcode IP26 5ET, where parking runs from £2 for an hour to £6 for a full day and is free to Forestry England members; the metal target stag by the entrance is the landmark. This is the winter answer in Norfolk because the sandy rides drain within hours, dogs are welcome and the rides are open enough for reliable recall, but there is no natural water anywhere so carry a bowl, and deer and forest machinery are both regular.

Four and a half miles and a little over two hours on forest ride, sandy heath track and riverbank, linking the flint gamekeeper's tower of Thetford Warren Lodge with the grazed acid grassland of Barnham Cross Common on the town's southern edge. It starts from the free forest car park on the B1107 Brandon road at the Warren Lodge, a short pull-in with room for about fifteen cars; if it is full, the common has its own free parking off Nuns Bridges Road. Dogs are welcome and the forest rides are safe off-lead ground, but Barnham Cross Common is grazed by cattle and sheep for conservation and needs a lead, and there is drinkable running water only at the Little Ouse.

Four and a quarter miles in two hours on riverside path, town park and gravel track, out from the priory ruins along the Little Ouse to the flooded gravel pits and heath of the Nunnery Lakes and back through Butten Island. Start at the free riverside parking by Thetford Priory on Water Lane, a short walk from the town centre, or use the long-stay car park behind the Guildhall if it is market day. The going is level and firm with kissing gates rather than stiles, the river gives an easy shallow drink all along its length, and the grazed compartments at the lakes hold sheep in summer so a lead is needed there.