This National Nature Reserve has an unusual train of sarsen stones – boulders strewn across the valley, tumbled down from the ridge during the last Ice Age.

It is very likely that some of the stones used in stone circles and standing stones on the Ridgeway came from here.

See if you can spot the difference between stones at the top of the hill and the bottom! It is well worth a visit in the summer for its unimproved grassland, uncommon lichens and rare butterflies.

You can walk to the Valley of Stones from Littlebredy using Map 3 of our Field Guide Series. This 5 mile circular walk takes in the hidden valleys of Littlebredy, and the tearooms, when open, offer a nice reward at the end!  Find out about our Field Guide Series of maps. 

The Valley of Stones lies within the South Dorset Ridgeway area, a land of bone and stone.

The South Dorset Ridgeway, not just an ancient trackway but a ridge of high land that has attracted people for thousands of years – a special place to celebrate life and bury their dead.

Experts tell us that this ridge of land is as important as Stonehenge and Avebury for the scale of monuments and what they tell us of life in the past. But without a stone henge, this vast ceremonial landscape remains one of the UK’s best kept secrets!

Find out more about the South Dorset Ridgeway