Parkhorn Rough

The woodland around Parkhorn Rough feels proper wild in a way that most of Staffordshire's managed green spaces don't. It's dense, tangled scrub and forest - the kind of place where you'll actually lose sight of the nearest road, which near Stafford is rarer than you'd think. Walking through here, you get a genuine sense of what the land looked like before someone decided to tidy it all up.

What you're doing is straightforward: picking your way along woodland paths, listening for birds, maybe spotting a fox if you're lucky and quiet. There's no visitor centre, no interpretation boards spelling everything out. That's either brilliant or annoying depending on your mood. For keen walkers and anyone who likes a bit of proper woodland rambling - not the manicured park kind - it works. Young kids will enjoy it for an hour or so before asking when ice cream's happening. Serious birdwatchers and nature photographers often make the pilgrimage out here.

The rough is free and you can rock up whenever suits. Allow a couple of hours if you're doing any serious exploring, though you can dash round it in half that. Best visited in autumn or early spring when the undergrowth is less dense and you can actually move without getting scratched to pieces.

If you're staying at Oakland Holiday Park or High Onn just down the road, this makes a solid half-day walk. It's not flashy, but it's genuinely wild - and there aren't many bits of Staffordshire you can say that about.