Dorset’s largest hill fort and home to a wide variety of wild flowers, birds and butterflies. The fort sits at 143 m (469 ft) above sea level and commands wide ranging views over rural Dorset and the meandering River Stour below.
Distance: 1.5 miles
Difficulty: easy (uneven ground and uphill sections)
Estimated time: 1 hour
Date of Walk: June 2020
![Hod Hill Walk map](https://www.dorsetwalks.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/hod-hill-walk-map-01-1024x909.jpg)
Base map © OpenStreetMap created in Outdooractive App
![Hod Hill Walk map (zoomed in)](https://www.dorsetwalks.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/hod-hill-walk-map-02-1024x883.jpg)
Base map © OpenStreetMap created in Outdooractive App
Route Map and GPS Navigation
https://www.outdooractive.com/
https://www.google.com/maps/
Route Description and Photos
The land is owned and managed by the National Trust although the small car park and hill fort are free to enter for everyone.
Information about Hod Hill including a map of the walk is shown on the National Trust webpage https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/hod-hill/trails/hod-hill-perambulation
The starting point for the walk is at the small car park in Hod Wood just off the Child Okeford Road (Google map) (w3w)
From the car park, go through the gate and up the steep grassy field.
![Follow the path up through the steep grassy field keeping the woodland to your right](https://www.dorsetwalks.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/20200615-hod-hill-002.jpg)
![](https://www.dorsetwalks.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/20200615-hod-hill-003.jpg)
![Hod Hill is owned and managed by the National Trust](https://www.dorsetwalks.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/20200615-hod-hill-026.jpg)
When you reach the ramparts of the fort you’ll see a path along the top of the ramparts. You can go either left (clockwise) or right (anti-clockwise) around the hill fort eventually returning to where you started. After your circular walk just follow the path back down the hill to the car park.
![Views north from the ramparts at the top of Hod Hill in Dorset](https://www.dorsetwalks.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/20200615-hod-hill-035.jpg)
![common spotted orchid](https://www.dorsetwalks.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/20200615-hod-hill-029.jpg)
![](https://www.dorsetwalks.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/20200615-hod-hill-036.jpg)
![](https://www.dorsetwalks.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/20200615-hod-hill-039.jpg)
![common spotted orchid](https://www.dorsetwalks.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/20200615-hod-hill-047.jpg)
![](https://www.dorsetwalks.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/20200615-hod-hill-054.jpg)
![](https://www.dorsetwalks.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/20200615-hod-hill-056.jpg)
![](https://www.dorsetwalks.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/20200615-hod-hill-059.jpg)
![](https://www.dorsetwalks.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/20200615-hod-hill-060.jpg)
![](https://www.dorsetwalks.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/20200615-hod-hill-021.jpg)