Our verdict
A genuinely excellent, big-sky walk with plenty of room to roam and real history underfoot — one of the best spots in the whole Cranborne Chase area. Popular with walkers and horse riders, so it's rarely quiet, but there's enough space that it never feels crowded.
One of the largest surviving expanses of unimproved chalk downland in Britain, a National Nature Reserve straddling the Dorset/Hampshire border that's nationally important for its archaeology and downland wildlife alike. Bokerley Dyke, a huge Iron Age to Anglo-Saxon linear earthwork, runs right along its northern edge, and the reserve is rich in butterflies including Adonis blue, dark green fritillary and marsh fritillary.