Can I Cross a National Park in a Straight Line as the Crow Flies
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Date: 2026-10-28
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Comments and reviews: 20
Herrkfvran
I applaud you for your cross-country trek. It may have been a day's journey, but it shows just how incredible (and difficult) even a flat (ish) landscape can be when moving through a rugged barely-touched (or long without touch) environment. I hope your recovery after pushing yourself so hard didn't take too long.
It is interesting to see the parts of the English countryside not normally encountered (or imagined when thinking of England. In a way it gives one some appreciation for the difficulties people of pre-modern eras had - especially when moving through areas without roads.
I have to admit, I would have brought a walking staff with me on such a trek (or used any convenient branch for such) - especially in the more boggy areas. And extra socks! A few pair, replaced each time I was sure I had finished a boggy region for a while.
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I applaud you for your cross-country trek. It may have been a day's journey, but it shows just how incredible (and difficult) even a flat (ish) landscape can be when moving through a rugged barely-touched (or long without touch) environment. I hope your recovery after pushing yourself so hard didn't take too long.
It is interesting to see the parts of the English countryside not normally encountered (or imagined when thinking of England. In a way it gives one some appreciation for the difficulties people of pre-modern eras had - especially when moving through areas without roads.
I have to admit, I would have brought a walking staff with me on such a trek (or used any convenient branch for such) - especially in the more boggy areas. And extra socks! A few pair, replaced each time I was sure I had finished a boggy region for a while.
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jackypearcejustme
It was very tempting to count how many times you mentioned tics and bracken!
I've been in the New Forest many times, and on Dartmoor even more, plus other wild spaces, doing volunteer conservation work, and I've only ever had 2 tics in my life. One had gotten under my sock and was on the top of my foot, and the other was in my armpit!
I'm from Hampshire originally, for 30 years, and there's one place I really love in the New Forest - Burley, where the witches live!
They're ponies in the New Forest, the native equines are the New Forest Ponies, although there are some horses too, but they're not the same thing at all.
My knee arthritis is so bad now that I can barely shuffle at all, so you're very lucky to be able to do this kind of walk.
The bogs were just cooling you down after complaining about the heat!
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It was very tempting to count how many times you mentioned tics and bracken!
I've been in the New Forest many times, and on Dartmoor even more, plus other wild spaces, doing volunteer conservation work, and I've only ever had 2 tics in my life. One had gotten under my sock and was on the top of my foot, and the other was in my armpit!
I'm from Hampshire originally, for 30 years, and there's one place I really love in the New Forest - Burley, where the witches live!
They're ponies in the New Forest, the native equines are the New Forest Ponies, although there are some horses too, but they're not the same thing at all.
My knee arthritis is so bad now that I can barely shuffle at all, so you're very lucky to be able to do this kind of walk.
The bogs were just cooling you down after complaining about the heat!
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Herrkfvran
23: 30 Those solar farms really are a blight on the natural landscape. So many old growth parks and nature reserves have been pock-marked or even partially clear cut to build them. It sometimes shocks me just how often environmentalists are willing to destroy nature in order to protect nature.
And after taking into account all the mining, manufacturing, and shipping required to build the solar farms (and windmills, for that matter) they often use nearly as much (or, in some regions / projects, even more) carbon as they save. And then it all has to be torn down and re-built every 20 - 25 years. Perhaps most ironically, some of the key parts used in windmills and solar farms are not themselves recyclable, so much of the mining, etc has to be done all over again.
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23: 30 Those solar farms really are a blight on the natural landscape. So many old growth parks and nature reserves have been pock-marked or even partially clear cut to build them. It sometimes shocks me just how often environmentalists are willing to destroy nature in order to protect nature.
And after taking into account all the mining, manufacturing, and shipping required to build the solar farms (and windmills, for that matter) they often use nearly as much (or, in some regions / projects, even more) carbon as they save. And then it all has to be torn down and re-built every 20 - 25 years. Perhaps most ironically, some of the key parts used in windmills and solar farms are not themselves recyclable, so much of the mining, etc has to be done all over again.
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henrioinonen3492
Next time try that in Finnish Lapland! You will need a dry suit if you go straight line more then 10km, or just get wet. waders might save you from lot of it but rivers and lakes will get you wet anyhow. That is why most people here use good rubber boots while in the wild. If they get wet you just poor the water out, squeeze most water from your wool socks and keep going. And during the night you dry your rubber boots and put new wool sock on the feet in the morning. And Finnish swamps are real ones, no bottom for next 30m. There might be only 1m thick growth on top of it and holes in it. Wrong step and you are going down, if no air in the pack pack you are going to the bottom. In the bad swamps they use swamp ski's to not go down.
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Next time try that in Finnish Lapland! You will need a dry suit if you go straight line more then 10km, or just get wet. waders might save you from lot of it but rivers and lakes will get you wet anyhow. That is why most people here use good rubber boots while in the wild. If they get wet you just poor the water out, squeeze most water from your wool socks and keep going. And during the night you dry your rubber boots and put new wool sock on the feet in the morning. And Finnish swamps are real ones, no bottom for next 30m. There might be only 1m thick growth on top of it and holes in it. Wrong step and you are going down, if no air in the pack pack you are going to the bottom. In the bad swamps they use swamp ski's to not go down.
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dmarshall1772
With regards to hunting, only the agisters and professionals they appoint are allowed to shoot the deer within the open forest (they do need controlling. As the Forest is so busy with visitors stock control is only done at certain times of year and in evening - and the rifleman will be seated up on special platforms so they have a clear line of sight and there is no chance of hitting a geo trekkers! PS bug repellent will have no effect on ticks. but as been so dry not so much of a problem this year. And you wont step on an adder in the middle of the day in the forest - they will hear and smell you coming!
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With regards to hunting, only the agisters and professionals they appoint are allowed to shoot the deer within the open forest (they do need controlling. As the Forest is so busy with visitors stock control is only done at certain times of year and in evening - and the rifleman will be seated up on special platforms so they have a clear line of sight and there is no chance of hitting a geo trekkers! PS bug repellent will have no effect on ticks. but as been so dry not so much of a problem this year. And you wont step on an adder in the middle of the day in the forest - they will hear and smell you coming!
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MilesRowanVlogs
I absolutely loved this! The irony is that the New Forest has been called that since William the Conqueror made it a royal hunting forest nearly 1, 000 years ago, and huge parts of it are heath, bog and open land rather than forest at all. I make videos exploring overlooked British places, so watching someone try to ignore all those historical boundaries and cross it in a literal straight line is strangely fascinating. The private estates, bogs, gorse and even modern solar farms show why maps make landscapes look far simpler than they really are. Britain is never as empty as it looks.
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I absolutely loved this! The irony is that the New Forest has been called that since William the Conqueror made it a royal hunting forest nearly 1, 000 years ago, and huge parts of it are heath, bog and open land rather than forest at all. I make videos exploring overlooked British places, so watching someone try to ignore all those historical boundaries and cross it in a literal straight line is strangely fascinating. The private estates, bogs, gorse and even modern solar farms show why maps make landscapes look far simpler than they really are. Britain is never as empty as it looks.
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johndalzell904
Very enjoyable. Can't believe they built a solar farm in a conservation area. I had no idea ticks were a problem in the UK. Had to laugh at being baked by the sun at 22C! It's only baking when the air is shimmering so much it distorts what you're seeing: ) You're right to avoid gorse bushes - horrible things. Good lesson about how dense vegetation like bracken can slow you down so dramatically. Better to walk 2 or 3 times the distance on a track.
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Very enjoyable. Can't believe they built a solar farm in a conservation area. I had no idea ticks were a problem in the UK. Had to laugh at being baked by the sun at 22C! It's only baking when the air is shimmering so much it distorts what you're seeing: ) You're right to avoid gorse bushes - horrible things. Good lesson about how dense vegetation like bracken can slow you down so dramatically. Better to walk 2 or 3 times the distance on a track.
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ekSn
It's like my usually way to go photograph some wildlife. Find the most difficult route and I'm happy. Just point to a spot and get there whatever it takes I love to lost in the woods so much! Meetings with wild horses are familiar here too, even with the big (Hungarian) Grey Cattles. It's very awakening to run away from 700-900kg bulls with a team of cattle dogs haha.
Well done Mike! This was a great adventure
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It's like my usually way to go photograph some wildlife. Find the most difficult route and I'm happy. Just point to a spot and get there whatever it takes I love to lost in the woods so much! Meetings with wild horses are familiar here too, even with the big (Hungarian) Grey Cattles. It's very awakening to run away from 700-900kg bulls with a team of cattle dogs haha.
Well done Mike! This was a great adventure
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taoutdoors
Sometimes it's not about how well you complete a challenge, it's about completing the challenge at all, yknow Seeing it from beginning to end. A perseverance of the human spirit kinda deal. In a world where computers and robots are tasked with stepping in for human ingenuity, it's just gratifying seeing a simple, yet incredible human triumph. You nailed the challenge, man! Great job.
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Sometimes it's not about how well you complete a challenge, it's about completing the challenge at all, yknow Seeing it from beginning to end. A perseverance of the human spirit kinda deal. In a world where computers and robots are tasked with stepping in for human ingenuity, it's just gratifying seeing a simple, yet incredible human triumph. You nailed the challenge, man! Great job.
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modestoca25
What a pointless venture, traveling in a straight line (which he's not really doing) through an artificially planted forest of trees in rows. so challenging let's see him travel in a straight line in Yosemite or Yellowstone or some place that isn't relatively flat with fake forests. and acting like 74F is a scorcher lol. try anywhere in the American Southwest or Australia, Mexico.
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What a pointless venture, traveling in a straight line (which he's not really doing) through an artificially planted forest of trees in rows. so challenging let's see him travel in a straight line in Yosemite or Yellowstone or some place that isn't relatively flat with fake forests. and acting like 74F is a scorcher lol. try anywhere in the American Southwest or Australia, Mexico.
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Gpc9784
Absolutely love this! For someone who goes off trail a lot in the eastern woodlands in the us, I know exactly how difficult the change in terrain can be. Especially in wetlands. Awesome job bud! As Dave Canterbury always says with minimal tools and the right skill set (which you absolutely have) it’s inconvenience camping if you need to stay the night rather than survival.
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Absolutely love this! For someone who goes off trail a lot in the eastern woodlands in the us, I know exactly how difficult the change in terrain can be. Especially in wetlands. Awesome job bud! As Dave Canterbury always says with minimal tools and the right skill set (which you absolutely have) it’s inconvenience camping if you need to stay the night rather than survival.
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ericcook5416
It all depends on where you are I can name national parks that you can and I can name national parks that you cannot let's just say Death Valley and Sequoia as a scientist I can get any results I want as long as I get to set the parameters FYI that's the truth about science Dr fauci well all right I think I covered a lot of ground there roll tape
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It all depends on where you are I can name national parks that you can and I can name national parks that you cannot let's just say Death Valley and Sequoia as a scientist I can get any results I want as long as I get to set the parameters FYI that's the truth about science Dr fauci well all right I think I covered a lot of ground there roll tape
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alaskantimberwolf
Something that may help in the future when you're in snake country, carry a walking stick and whack the brush and ground out in front of you as you walk along. gives them some warning your are there so they can move away without being stepped on, and less likely you'll take a hit (bite. Snakes are deaf, but they feel vibrations.
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Something that may help in the future when you're in snake country, carry a walking stick and whack the brush and ground out in front of you as you walk along. gives them some warning your are there so they can move away without being stepped on, and less likely you'll take a hit (bite. Snakes are deaf, but they feel vibrations.
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jenniriley482
Aw well done mike. I would of not been able to do 1 mile yet along 20!
I think you did amazingly well to do it as straight as possible.
Thanks for taking us along with you. And phew! Definately needed that rest under the bridge too! look forward to your next cideo and hope those legs and achillies tendon are holding up ok.
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Aw well done mike. I would of not been able to do 1 mile yet along 20!
I think you did amazingly well to do it as straight as possible.
Thanks for taking us along with you. And phew! Definately needed that rest under the bridge too! look forward to your next cideo and hope those legs and achillies tendon are holding up ok.
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Roturier1154
I have heard you can't beat dusting yourself with a sock full of sulphur whichrepels ticks like nobody's business. I heard tell of a fellow who went all his working life (including a 20 year stint as a scout master )out of doors and both he and the boys in his scout troop never once got a tick on them or him using the sulphur dust.
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I have heard you can't beat dusting yourself with a sock full of sulphur whichrepels ticks like nobody's business. I heard tell of a fellow who went all his working life (including a 20 year stint as a scout master )out of doors and both he and the boys in his scout troop never once got a tick on them or him using the sulphur dust.
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Oxy_Cotton
Looking out my front door in kalgoorlie, Western Australia. If I look in a straight line from my front door, I see bush and it is approximately 2, 150 kilometres before my line of sight reaches the coast at the Coral Sea (Pacific Ocean, making landfall just south of Townsville, Queensland.
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Looking out my front door in kalgoorlie, Western Australia. If I look in a straight line from my front door, I see bush and it is approximately 2, 150 kilometres before my line of sight reaches the coast at the Coral Sea (Pacific Ocean, making landfall just south of Townsville, Queensland.
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alexpervanoglu7420
Nice one Mike
Bet that Landy's clutch pedal gave you a shakey leg after that
North to south Dartmoor is a good one to do.
I've done it several times, Okehampton to Roborough.
Brutal, but obviously involves camping so can reduce the milage to around ten a day.
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Nice one Mike
Bet that Landy's clutch pedal gave you a shakey leg after that
North to south Dartmoor is a good one to do.
I've done it several times, Okehampton to Roborough.
Brutal, but obviously involves camping so can reduce the milage to around ten a day.
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ianmckenzie5303
That was a massive challenge for you seeing it was a first time. Good on ya. I've done some short point to point, around 5, 6 or 7 km, using just a compass in coastal British Columbia where I live. Very challenging rocky rain forrest terrain.
Love your videos Mike. ATB.
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That was a massive challenge for you seeing it was a first time. Good on ya. I've done some short point to point, around 5, 6 or 7 km, using just a compass in coastal British Columbia where I live. Very challenging rocky rain forrest terrain.
Love your videos Mike. ATB.
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cjwhiterabbit1
On the hiking / trekking chocolate boost highly recommend the Sainsbury brand dark choc fruit n nut ( if u like dark choc obvs. .. think they do a milk choc one) though nothing beats the Bourneville Old Jamaica rum n raison (RIP. .. Lest We Forget the Fallen Heroes lol )
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On the hiking / trekking chocolate boost highly recommend the Sainsbury brand dark choc fruit n nut ( if u like dark choc obvs. .. think they do a milk choc one) though nothing beats the Bourneville Old Jamaica rum n raison (RIP. .. Lest We Forget the Fallen Heroes lol )
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dmarshall1772
This summer would have been the best ever opportunity to do it was the driest I can remember in 50 years and just about every bog dried up. And as someone who has nearly drowned in New Forest bogs several times, please so not attempt this outside of a very dry summer!
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This summer would have been the best ever opportunity to do it was the driest I can remember in 50 years and just about every bog dried up. And as someone who has nearly drowned in New Forest bogs several times, please so not attempt this outside of a very dry summer!
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