If you’re lucky, a good dog walk involves great views and handy car parking – if you don’t have good walking on the doorstep.

Figsbury Ring, an Iron Age hill fort just off the A30 four miles east of Salisbury, offers both of these. Make it up the teeth-rattling track, which surely has all of Salisbury’s pothole allowance in one dusty stretch, and you’ll find a small but perfectly formed Neolithic and Iron Age site managed by the National Trust.

Views from the ramparts stretch over Salisbury Plain, Old Sarum and Salisbury Cathedral.

In late spring and summer, the site is carpeted in wild orchids and fringed with juniper and gorse, and vast skies ring with the calls of skylarks. In winter, the ancient fort’s sloping slides are perfect for sledders lucky enough to find a sprinkling of snow.

Figsbury Ring tends to be quieter than other, better known NT sites, and on an early morning it’s possible for you and your hound to sit alone on top of the world and watch the sun spread out over those heavenly views.

You’ll feel as though you’re miles from anywhere, even though you’re just a short, bone-jarring trundle off the busy A road into Salisbury.

The National Trust has a trail which starts and finishes at Figsbury Ring. You can find it on their website. It’s about 6.5 miles and is marked as challenging. You can always just tackle the stroll around the Ring itself though.

W: National Trust Trail around Figsbury Ring.