Forest & Wilderness

Country Park

A busy country park might seem an odd place to suggest, but at the location where i have put the pin, there has been mud at least 6 inches deep (and surely deeper places)  every time i have been there, and the exact spot is safely out of sight in thick rhododendrons!

Leigh Woods

The muddiest part of Bristol is of course the river at low tide.   The second muddiest place is Leigh Woods   Park at the pin and explore.    Check the closing time of the gate before being out after dark.    A lot of work has been taking place construction MTB paths, and there are often lots of muscular  muddy young men there!! 

A jogger came along when i was taking photos   "hello ....  nice and muddy" 

M5J23 Puriton Hill

The mud here is sticky and slimy and there are some old cow ponds around also that could be brought back into condition.   Sadly the best mud hole is no more, but pictures such as the ones i include here could be shot perhaps the 8 wettest months of the year.    Park at the pin and follow the footpath through one field to the ridge then there is another right of way along the ridge Follow the main right of way along the ridge, to the east, and there is goood although not deep mud in the first wood.

Cowherding path

I have no idea how often this is in condition but it was excellent when i went there (having been forced off the intended route by a road closure)    I think there is a stream somewhere not too far but cant remember   Easy parking and no distance to walk.

OK  I am not absolutely sure where it is, but it is in one of those little side valleys where the road parallel to the lake has the expected elbow bend, if not where i have put the pin, perhaps a valley to the south; there are 2 or 3 candidates, 

Thurlbear Wood

On the edge of the wood is usually a really good mudhole where cows are forced to cross a ditch.   Can dry up in summer but other venues a few miles away   Park with care at the entrance to the wood WHICH IS WHERE I HAVE PUT THE PIN  To get to the mud enter the wood and turn R onto the doggywalkers path and follow the path(s) anticlockwise round the edge of the wood keeping inside the wood for about half a mile.

M4J47 Penllergaer (valley woods)

This is an overgrown ornamental park that is now a community woodland.   I have put the pin in the swampiest area, but good mud can be found in various places, depending on the (illegal) activities of offroaders and cows, which are grazed in part of the area.    There may be really good cow-mud outside the woods to the northeast of the pin (fences easily crossed by crawling under) which is where i shot the pictures, you could spend a happy day wandering round this area then going in the best mud  after dark!

Clay woods

Park at Brigstock country park perhaps?    The wood to the east of this country park contained sticky yellow clay type mud when i was there, in winter a good prospect, probably a waste of time in summer.  

it just depends on what the horses and foresters' tractors have been up to.   A lot of people on this site seem to be into jumping into deep mud, in which case forget it,  but the shallow sticky stuff is better for getting the type of photos I like.    Its the best place i know of close to the A14 (A1M1 link)

muddymarsh in burnhambeeches

ISTR this is fairly deep mud, somewhere in this valley, unsure of the exact location, i think this is the best mud in burnam beeches, there are a lot of walkers here, reccee it in the daytime then go there again at night!

further downstream is more water for washing, then again, at night, go further south and there are ponds with firm banks
i dont know how easy it is to get in at night, i presume the gates are locked and you need to walk in from nearby residential streets

W----------- wells -- strictly at night!

There are 3 ponds here with really deep mud between them, complete with warning signs about the mud.  This is a popular beauty spot owned by the national trust so please only at night or you will get all of us a really bad name!!

Perhaps there are fishermen at night?    I have no idea, but even if there are you could be quiet about it and not be observed, you would have to go a little further for washing, but the stream and pond(s) are excellent for washing

woodland mud out of sight

This is the best mud i know of in the Isère valley leading to the main French ski areas, not far off the main autoroute from Lyon, the usual route for those who can afford the tolls.