Start: Marquis Drive Visitor Car Park, Cannock, WS12 4PW. The car park is free if you park along the parallel spaces around the loop. There is a pay and display car park on site too. Please check before you park.
(S/E) The walk starts out easy with a walk down the hill, North towards Marquis Drive and then right (South-East) at the end of the road, towards the woodland. At the pedestrian crossing, continue straight ahead and take the next path to your left into the woodland. Continue following the main path along the edge of the trees crossing several paths until the path bends slightly to the right (North-East). To your left you should see Cannock Chase Holiday Cottages.
(1) Take the main path to the right (Cross Chase Walk) and walk alongside the ponds (Fairoak Pools and the first of Stony Brook Pools).
(2) There will be a wooden bridge to your right, continue straight ahead and take the second path to your left, a straight path heading North towards the Birches Valley Visitors' Centre. After approximately 600m, follow the Birches Valley (road) to the road. This skirts around some houses, take the next right to the visitor centre.
(3) After your stop at the visitor centre, return to the road and turn right. Look for a path to your right which heads South (Heritage Trail). Don’t be surprised if you venture here on a weekend and hear some distant screams from within the Forrest. Cannock Chase has one of the longest Go Ape Ziplines that runs parallel to some of this walk.
(4) On reaching the path junction, bear right following the main Cross Chase Walk southwards back towards Stony Brook Pools. Here the path bears slightly to the right (South-West) past the first of the ponds to(2). Continue along Cross Chase Walk to Fairoak Pools.
(5) When walking back alongside the ponds, I recommend taking the path on the left, across the little wooden bridge, by the first pond. This route back to the base of the hill is often quieter.
(6) Once you come back to the bottom of the hill turn left, it’s time for that steady ascent back up to the Marquis Drive walk. Be careful, the ground is uneven and in heavy rain, there is often a deep natural drainage dip that forms within the path. Once at the top of the hill turn left onto Marquis Drive, you may see your car waiting for you on your right, but I promise, turning left will allow you to continue on a lovely walk and learn some history on the way.
(7) Turn right and walk around the old RAF base here at Marquis Drive and learn about the brave men and women who worked in the buildings that once filled these fields. After the first marker, take the path to the left (South-East) until you come to another path, turn right heading South-West. At the end of this path, bear left to a viewpoint.
(8) There are a couple of beautiful views from the back of the fields and a bench at the top of one, where you can stop and look at the tree lined horizon, on a clear day. After stopping at the viewpoint, continue on taking the South-West path (to your left if you look back at the path you came from) and turning right at the second junction (North, at the edge of the woods) and then left to walk back to the visitor centre. There are public toilets and a little café where you can grab an end of walk snack or another drink. There is also a play area for the kids (if they have more energy to burn that is)(S/E).