Don't say where you live but do you have a 'secret' place that only locals know about?

[AHugeWitheringStare]

We have a beach that unless you lived here, you would never know about
Tourists area too

AHuge the only think I can think of is a private fishing lake that belongs to an angling club that DH and the DS go to. It’s right near the centre of town but totally peaceful and secluded. Unless it’s full of anglers

We found a perfect spot on a river for swimming it has a 'beachy' part and someone has made a swing and a wooden ledge to jump off. You have to walk about a mile but it's so worth it and I guess that's why not many people have found it.

Loads near us, which is odd since it's an island, you'd think it would all be 'discovered'.

There's a gorgeous national trust walk through a valley that is barely used as you can't park within about 2km either side, and it's tucked down a little narrow road that you wouldn't even drive down if you weren't going to a property on that road.

A couple of beaches can only be accessed by kayak or paddle board, which puts off the majority of locals even. A friend of mine and her boyfriend sometimes camp there.

@Susannahmoody

I also know zz's lobster shack

It's not the one in Cape Elizabeth, although I do love that one too.

Where I've just moved from had the most beautiful hidden churchyard. It genuinely took my breath away walking through it most days and it was always deserted.

3 secret playgrounds that have saved our sanity during the lockdowns. Two of them are in private garden squares but the children made very lucky friendships .

Secret beachy area that you literally have to know the town like the back of your hand to know is there.

Gorgeous park for kids. Again only if you grew up here do you know.

Hidden allotments

Not exactly local but only ten minutes drive away is a lovely little walk that runs along the fence line of a zoo and animals can be seen from the path. Used to be really quiet, even during the holidays.

Then the local newspaper published the walk on sodding Facebook. Now it’s overrun with families spread across the entire path, blocking everyone from passing while their child has a tantrum/finds an interesting rock/etc or their badly trained off leash dog invades your personal space.

@FoxytheFox

I was about to describe the exact same scenario. Does one end of the nature reserve reach the 'lakes'? (Giant ponds, not lake district type lakes)

We also have a secret beach!(nowhere near the coast though)

@FoxyTheFox I think I know similar. Are you north west?

Yes, there's a very well hidden valley with one lane through it that is narrow, and with crumbling road surface that looks very uninviting.
It's a steep valley with a stream, a couple of farms, a stud farm, it's beautiful and very quiet.

Yes a lovely little woodland walk situated on a business park right near a very busy main road and huge roundabout. Once in the woods you have no idea how close to the roads you are. It’s lovely.
Sadly during lockdown more have discovered it and it’s quite trashed now.

I live near the most-visited National Trust site in Wales, and yet once you walk for longer than 20mins you will hardly see another soul.

I also regularly visit a huge, beautiful, completely unhidden beach which is almost always deserted. It's not particularly accessible, very little parking which is why, I suppose. Although it's very well known.

@polkadtpjs

Must not be unusual then because we are far from North West.

We live just outside London in a very crowded commuter town. Lots of high rises and not very much green space. There’s a lovely park, right in the middle of a residential street, that hardly anyone knows about. It’s beautiful and used to be a private estate. Huge lake, blossom trees, wooded area, deer. A proper hidden gem. Dc and I have spent most of the last year there having picnics by the lake and walking the dogs.

Does a cottaging area count? The perils of owning a curious dog

Not secret as it’s in the country map bu the road to get there is unsealed, windy, narrow and steep. There are no shops or other facilities. It stops people from going and is therefore very quiet

Very popular national park here.

I know a beautiful deserted woodland where you can do a lovely walk that ends at a lake.

I know a walk that takes you alongside some large ponds and woodland where you can regularly see deer.

I know a circular walk over fells that surround a reservoir.

All of which are only visited by other locals in the know. And I won't tell anyone

@MarjorieBouvier Not local to me now but there was lots of hooha about footpaths through a safari park on a Facebook page local-ish to where I used to live.

Yes, some lovely forestry commission woods. The main ones are always relatively busy, but there are so many bits of forestry commission land around here that you can always find a quiet bit as long as you’re ready for a bit of a walk. Luckily there is a big visitor centre with a cafe, playground and bike trails and things quite nearby too, so anyone who isn’t local will gravitate to that while the locals get the benefit of the other bits.

We have a "secret castle" hidden in some beautiful woodlands at the very top of a hill...

I live in a national park which gets very busy, but a few minutes walk from my front door is a waterfall and swimming pool with boulders that the teens jump off and small pools where the littlies can play. Only locals know about it but it is quite a busy swimming spot. About 10 minutes walk in the other direction is an even more tucked away waterfall and pool that no one much bothers with and where I can generally skinny dip without a worry.

@HunterAngel we must be quite close. I heard of the walk a good few years back but we’ve not done it ourselves, seen it mentioned so many times recently on social media. We have a few countryside walks we love that seem to be overlooked whilst everyone heads to the woods (and park in silly places to avoid the new parking costs).

A secret “beach” in the middle of the moors that you can’t drive too is mine.