A Herefordshire Hike: The Climbing Jack Trail and High Vinnalls

I had a rare free weekend to myself as my wife Stace had taken our daughter Molly off for a short break in Somerset. I took the the opportunity to head out for a long walk, just me and our two scruffy little mutts, Dottie and Wilf. I’d recently spotted some photos of Mortimer Forest in north Herefordshire on Facebook and thought it looked pretty special. With a quick browse on AllTrails, I found the Climbing Jack Trail, an 8.5 mile circular route that snakes through the heart of the forest and up to the summit of High Vinnalls, a 380 metre Marilyn. Forestry England warns it’s one for “serious walkers,” which sounded either challenging or sombre. Either way, with a full day of sunshine forecast for Sunday, I decided it was worth a go.

The Climbing Jack Trail route on AllTrails

I left Ledbury at around 10am on Sunday morning and arrived at Black Pool car park in Mortimer Forest 45 minutes later. The car park is located in the lower right area of the map above, slightly east of the trail. There were plenty of spaces to park in. I checked the route on my phone and began the trail in a clockwise direction, heading first towards High Vinnalls (the dot just to the left of Mountain View in the map).

I was immediately struck by how beautiful this place was. It was absolutely incredible. Paths winding between huge conifers. There were a few folks about, mostly dog walkers, some with screaming kids. All nice people that said hello and asked how you were. I'd found on my walks on the Malverns on busy, sunny weekends that the other walkers seemed generally miserable and ignorant, but I guess this place attracts a friendlier crowd. Surprisingly my dogs were very well behaved. Usually they would spark into a spinning rage at the sight of another dog. So that was good. 

Following the trail through the conifers

The view from near the summit of High Vinnalls

The route I opted for took on the biggest climb of the walk pretty much straight away, and pretty much straight away I was starting to wish I'd worn shorts. I was properly sweaty making my way up the trail to High Vinnalls. As the path opened up into a high clearing I realised why people visit this forest. The views were amazing. I carried on walking up and reached the summit. There isn't a trig point or anything to mark it. Just a couple of benches. The scenery is epic though. I was roughly 3 miles into the walk by this point and the dogs seemed knackered, so it was a good spot to take half an hour to drink a bottle of Hereford Pale Ale and give the dogs some water and food. 

Dottie and Wilf on High Vinnalls

Views from High Vinnalls

Hereford Pale Ale. A fine beer.

After Dottie and Wilf had returned to their usual hatred of other dogs and went absolutely mental at a passing spaniel, it was time to move on. I could have happily sat on that bench all day, but I had a trail to walk. Obviously from the highest point, the next section was downhill. I needed that after the knackering plod up. The path winds down through the trees towards the main car park for High Vinnalls on the opposite side of the forest from where I parked at Black Pool. This was the busiest path of the walk, but it still wasn't exactly rammed. On passing the car park which was roughly the half-way point on my hike, the paths became empty. I guess most people don't do the full trail and just park up and walk to High Vinnalls. The paths also became narrower and a bit muddy in the second half. This was what a came here for though. A bit of peace and quiet in a beautiful forest. 

Quieter paths in the northern part of Mortimer Forest

A pond just off the trail

A stream through Mortimer Forest

I had a mile or so of flat, easy walking before hitting another uphill section. AllTrails suggested that this bit might get quite steep. As I rounded a few bends I realised that they weren't lying...

A very steep section of the Climbing Jack Trail

The walk up that path on a warm day was pretty brutal. I took it fairly slow to try and limit the risk of my heart exploding but I still became soaked with sweat again. I was glad I'd brought plenty of water but very much still regretting the choice of trousers over shorts. It was only a few minutes of brutality though before it started to level off again and I eventually reached the second high point of the trail. The quieter second half of the walk was wonderful. It felt like a proper hike in the wilderness rather than the first half which felt like a pleasant dog walk in a popular area. I hadn't seen another person for nearly an hour. Plodding along with the dogs, surrounded by tall trees and bluebells. Good for the soul. 

A waymarker for the Climbing Jack Trail

Bluebells in Mortimer Forest

Beautiful scenery on the trail

I was now 8 miles into the walk and it looked like I had more to go on the map than the 0.5 miles expected. Then I remembered I had to follow a diversion earlier on which would have added some distance. It was pretty much all downhill from here towards the car park anyway, so I could just enjoy the scenery and let my heart rate slow down a bit. After 9.3 miles of walking the trail, I arrived back at the car. A properly enjoyable tramp in the woods which took me 3 hours and 4 minutes to complete.

Epic views of the forest 

Approaching the end of the trail

As mentioned earlier, Forestry England describe this trail as quite difficult. They say "given the distance, steep sections, exposed rocks and roots, along with areas being muddy after wet weather this walk is designed for serious walkers with appropriate footwear and equipment". There were definitely some challenging uphill sections that had my heart racing and I imagine after a spell of wet weather, the quiet northern section would be hard going in parts. It's a moderately difficult hike, but anyone reasonably fit would find it OK and I can't recommend it enough. You'll be treated to some glorious scenery and a sense of adventure. I should note that, whilst there are a few streams for dogs to cool down in and have a drink, I wouldn't recommend this walk with a dog on a hot summer day. One of my dogs has been up Snowdon, Ben Nevis and Scafell Pike, and both have been on multiple 10 mile plus walks over the Malverns. They were fine, but really tired after this hike and it was just a warm Spring day. With or without a dog, if you do decide to give it a go, wear some decent walking shoes and take plenty of water. If it's warm, definitely wear shorts. 

Dottie and Wilf cooling down in one of the streams in Mortimer Forest