Burnley Forest is so new you won't find it on the map. Up here, on the windswept moorland above Clough Bottom Reservoir, thousands of young trees have been planted to replace the natural Pennine forests destroyed by agriculture and industry. Though on the tops you'll probably need that woolly hat you haven't worn since last winter, down by the reservoir there is mature woodland where blackbirds, chaffinches, wrens and tits all seek shelter among the rowan and beech trees that fringe the larch and pine.
LOCATION: Between Bacup and Burnley
START: Crown Point Road Quarry Car Park. Quarter mile north of B6238 & A671 junction
Grid ref: SD852279 Postcode: BB113RL
DISTANCE: 3 miles
GRADE: Easy
TIME: 1.5 hours
MAP: Explorer OL - South Pennines Landranger 103
REFRESHMENTS: Pack a flask
EN ROUTE: Dunnockshaw, Pennine Briodleway, Compston Cross, Clowbridge
This walk was originally published by
The Manchester Evening News