Pidsley Close

Walking into Pidsley Close feels like stepping into someone's private woodland - dense, quiet, and refreshingly unselfconscious about being a tourist attraction. This small forest sits just outside Crediton in mid-Devon, the sort of place locals know and visitors stumble upon by accident. The canopy is thick enough that even on bright days there's a cool, dappled quality to the light, and the paths wind through mature trees with the kind of naturalness that suggests no one's spent a fortune on upkeep.

It's brilliant for a proper walk without needing to commit to hours of tramping. An hour in here is satisfying - long enough to get the cobwebs out but short enough that restless kids won't start whining. The forest floor is soft underfoot, mostly moss and leaf litter, and there's enough variation in the trees to keep things interesting. No dramatic vistas or heritage plaques; just woodland being woodland.

Based from Yeatheridge Farm Caravan Park - a cracking spot just 4 miles away - Pidsley Close makes a solid half-day addition to a Devon parks holiday. It's the sort of place you'd appreciate more if you're after woodland walks rather than facilities and visitor infrastructure. Come early if you want any sense of solitude, and bring proper shoes rather than trainers. The ground can be boggy after rain, but that's rather the point of a forest.