The longest of the waymarked trails at Saltwells Nature Reserve is the Murray Grey Trail. This trail is 4km (2.5 miles) long and is marked by yellow arrows. The trail once again starts from the carpark by the Wardens’ Base, where arrows can be picked up from the Four Elements sculpture. It follows generally good surfaced paths and includes one stile, two road crossings and several ascents and descents, with one of them being steep. The path around Netherton Hill is steep and can be very muddy, so suitable footwear is required. Netherton Hill can be bypassed by turning right after crossing the canal, where the yellow arrow markers can then be picked up again.
The trail is named after the Murray Grey cattle, which are pictured on the trail markers and which used to graze at Saltwells from 2003 to 2013.
The trail takes you out of Saltwells Wood and to other parts of the Nature Reserve, passing the Settling Pools, across Dudley No. 2 canal, around Netherton Hill, passing the Brewin’s Bridge canal section (one of the Reserve’s SSSIs (Sites of Special Scientific Interest)), Netherton Reservoir (‘the Razza’) and skirting the east side of Doulton’s Claypit (another SSSI) on the way back to the car park. More information about the Brewin’s Bridge canal section and Doulton’s Claypit SSSIs can be found by visiting the history section of the website.
This trail is great if you want to walk a little further, and also if you want to explore a little more of the reserve- you may also be lucky enough to spot the ponies grazing as you walk around this trail! Enjoy…
A PDF copy of all of the way marked trails can be found in the 'About Us' section of the website.
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