Its railway station has a branch line connecting Lymington and the Isle of Wight to the southern railway network.
It is home to The New Forest and Hampshire County Show and Brockenhurst College, and is surrounded by the New Forest, including local roving livestock.
There are two examples of old style fords crossing local streams, one of which has pipes installed to carry the flow of water in the winter in order to stop the main road from becoming frozen and unpassable.
Brockenhurst is twinned with Pont St. Martin, Loire Atlantique, France.