Walk · Dorset

Ballard Down and Old Harry from Swanage

Swanage

7.2MILES

4hON FOOT

320mCLIMB

CircularSHAPE

Off-road 86% 14% shares tarmac with cars

Field & moor path 72%Lane & track 14%Road with traffic 14%

Our drawing of the route — the shape of the walk, not a navigation aid. Carry OS Explorer on the hill. Off-lead information here is what walkers reported or what signage allows — never our advice. Whether and when a dog is off the lead is the owner’s decision and legal responsibility; keep dogs under control near livestock and follow signs on the day.

Starts at

North Beach car park, Ulwell Road, Swanage

Parking

Pay and display, roughly 100 spaces at North Beach and more at Broad Road; both full by 10.30am in the school holidays, and Swanage on-street parking is permit-only in the centre

Directions to the start →

The big Purbeck day: 7.2 miles and 320 metres of climb in about four hours, up the chalk spine of Ballard Down, out to Old Harry, down to Studland village and back over the top, with the Isle of Wight visible on a clear morning. Turf and chalk paths throughout, greasy and slick when wet, with a long stepped descent into Studland. Start from the Broad Road or North Beach pay and display in Swanage, or take the number 50 open-top bus and walk it one way to Studland; the town car parks are metered and full by mid-morning in season. Sheep and cattle graze Ballard Down, so leads across the grazing, and the entire seaward edge from Ballard Point to Handfast is unfenced crumbling chalk with a 100-metre drop.

THE SMALL PRINTSheep and cattle graze Ballard Down all year, so dogs need to be on a lead across the grazed sections. The clifftop from Ballard Point to Old Harry is unfenced chalk that regularly collapses. Swanage central beach excludes dogs from 1 May to 30 September under the Dorset Council order.

House rules, decoded

Off-lead allowed

Livestock — leads on

REGION · DORSET

GRID · 50.6150, -1.9530

SOURCE · HTTPS://WWW.KOMOOT.COM/GUIDE/20611/HIKING-IN-DORSET

Ballard Down and Old Harry from Swanage

House rules, decoded

Amber Lodge Guest House

Amberlea Guest House

Arbour House

Cottages you can book near Swanage

Tell us the pub we have not walked into yet.

Get the new stamps first.

Your patch, watched for you.