Hawkcombe Woods is a national nature reserve of ancient sessile oak, in places more than three hundred years old, climbing the combe immediately south of Porlock village. The woodland is dark and mossy, with an understorey of holly and hazel, and is one of the best examples of upland oak forest left in southern England.
In spring the floor turns blue with bluebells, and the woods are full of birdsong — pied flycatchers, redstarts, and tree pipits all breed here. A well-marked footpath climbs the combe from the village in about an hour, eventually emerging on to the open moor.