The old road to London used to wend its way up over Shotover and down on to Wheatley the other side (and apparently highwaymen took advantage of the vegetation to lurk in wait here). Cars no longer allowed all the way, but you can walk through. The woodland sits on the side of a hill, with the car park at the top, often inhabited by an ice cream van at weekends. The woodland itself has well-maintained paths, and is accessible for a rugged off-road pram, and a few paths are suitable for wheelchairs or pushchairs.

Beloved by dog-walkers, joggers, kite-flyers, and children who flock to the sandpit or to make dens in the brush. There are also orienteering waymarkers, and a bridleway. The woods are an SSSI, and you might see wood anemones, common orchids, white admiral butterflies, green woodpeckers (raiding the ants nests), foxes, lizards, heather and wildflowers, all to an accompaniment of birdsong.