Otterburn Village Trail

Otterburn TowerA circular route around Otterburn Village.

Grade: Medium
Length: 2.5 Miles (4km)

Points of Interest

In Victorian times an ‘Otterburn’ was a hard-wearing rug to keep you snug on a coach ride.

Otterburn Mill was where these ‘bull’s lug’ (heavy duty) blankets were woven.Today the Mill has a shop/refreshments, mill museum, information.

The Otter Burn joins the River Rede south of the village. Clean waters and a good supply of fish, the otter has never died out in Northumberland unlike other counties.You’ll be very lucky to see these shy creatures, but otter footprints can sometimes be spotted in the mud of river banks.

Other wildlife to look out for include herons, grey wagtails and dippers.The birch woodland in summer has many wild flowers: Betony, Meadowsweet, Birds FootTrefoil, Harebell, Tufted Vetch.

The summit of Fawdon Hill contains the remains of an Iron Age Hillfort dating back 2500 years ago. From this point the land ahead of you to the north and the east is owned by the MOD. They own 23% of the land within the National Park.

It is the aim of the Northumberland National Park and the MOD to encourage as much access to the area as possible, however when the red flags are flying no access permitted.

Girsonfield stud farm is set in 600 acres of farm land. It provides pedigree stallions for racing, eventing, showing and show jumping.

Local facilities

Food is available at Otterburn Mill, the Percy Arms and Otterburn Tower. Otterburn Mill shop sells a wide selection of outdoor wear, as well as the Otterburn baby rugs, cot blankets and car rugs.

A tourist information centre is also based at the Mill.

Download the Otterburn Village Trail walk guide (PDF 534kb)

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GPS download

Download the GPS route for this walk (GPX format)

Please note: this GPS route has not been walked, and is only to be used as a guide. Always take the correct map with you.