Country Walking: Berkhamsted Common, Hertfordshire
Author
Trail stats
- Distance
- 9.9 mi
- Elevation gain
- 453 ft
- Technical difficulty
- Moderate
- Elevation loss
- 453 ft
- Max elevation
- 724 ft
- TrailRank
- 1
- Min elevation
- 339 ft
- Trail type
- Loop
- Coordinates
- 138
- Uploaded
- December 4, 2020
- Recorded
- December 2020
near Berkhamsted, England (United Kingdom)
Viewed 15 times, downloaded 1 times
Waypoints
Waypoint
346 ft
1 Start
From the station car park (opposite the castle ruins), pass under railway bridge then cross road to canal. Turn L until Castle Street Bridge, cross bridge, turn R, then follow towpath NW along canal. Expect neat locks, painted narrowboats and, on the parallel rail track, the occasional train thundering into London. Stay with canal until reaching bridge No. 137 at the village of Cow Roast.
Waypoint
390 ft
2
Go under bridge, then immediately double back to join the narrow road that crosses the bridge. Turn L along road. After 100m, look out for a gap in thick hedge on L. Take this path, following it over a farmed field, a rail footbridge and a second field, until reaching a row of large trees. Turn L, where views of the Chilterns soon come into view. Follow this path for 1km - dog-legging R then L after 800m - to reach a country road. Walk carefully R along road for 300m until signpost pointing L, marked 'Public Restricted Byway 62'.
Waypoint
436 ft
3
Follow byway across fields - passing an old barn, a large hedge and some newly planted saplings - until meeting a wall of trees. Turn R and follow to corner of field. Continue ahead, rising up a slight slope and passing through hedge, then keeping hedge on your L. After 400m, cross into next field to the L of a lone oak and keep straight on, passing telegraph pole on R. Go through gate in corner of field and follow road into the pretty village of Aldbury. A good pub, The Greyhound Inn, is on the green just beyond the church.
Waypoint
514 ft
4
From the green, continue along the road you walked in on, veering L just after memorial hall to join a track heading uphill. This climbs into the woods, where after 800m you'll reach the tall granite column of the Bridgewater Monument. Stay on the track as it bends R to join the main drive of the Ashridge Estate. Keep ahead for around 1500m, crossing two sealed roads, then turn right at prominent arrowed sign marked 'Ashridge House'. Take path on R at 4-trunked silver birch then continue, ignoring side-paths, skirting the edge of a fenced field and eventually reaching a part-tarmac road. Turn R onto road.
Waypoint
558 ft
5
Follow road through woods until Coldharbour Farm, then take path on L, following Hertfordshire Way past Brickkiln Cottage. After 600m, turn R at junction of several paths. Keep bearing R and follow path downhill. At edge of woods, pass through gate, bear L and continue down small valley, with hedge on L. Continue straight ahead, crossing farm track and passing between two cricket pitches, to eventually reach Berkhamsted Castle.
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