Jevington, South Downs

DISTANCE 18.2km (11.3 miles) CLIMBING 470m (1,542ft) TIME 1hr to 2hrs

Start/ inish The Pentlands car park, Jevington (grid ref TQ562/013, postcode BN26 5QJ) Route summary A small but perfectly-formed ride, which packs in coastline, forest and hilltop trails, with cafes, pubs and quaint villages along the way

1Join the bridleway out the back of the car park and start the steep, rutted climb up to Friston Forest. Enter the trees on the fireroad and go over the first big track crossing (unless you want to extend the route, in which case see the note below). Keep ahead on the main forest track until the next big crossing. Turn left here, onto a bridleway.

2Keep ahead on this track as it crosses an open area and then goes back into the trees. Continue onto an old tarmac track (and bridleway) and follow it uphill to a road. Turn right on the tarmac and keep ahead/right to a large junction with a grass triangle. Head straight across this, onto Crowlink Lane.

3Turn left through a gate, onto a bridleway (opposite some houses and before the car park). Follow this left and then right, through some fields. When you emerge in East Dean, head right, on the tarmac. At the fork at the end of the green, bear right onto Went Way, a no-through road.

4Join the bridleway at the end of the road. Follow it uphill through some trees, then down a grassy descent towards the sea. Bear left when you reach some houses near the Seven Sisters cli s, to emerge at the road by the Birling Gap car park and cafe.

5Go ahead/right on Beachy Head Road. Follow this round to the left, past the car park. Then join a bridleway on the right, which runs parallel to the road. After the track bears right, keep an eye out for (and take) a left turn 200m further on, by the lighthouse. Go down to and over the road, onto a wide concrete track.

6Head uphill, staying on this track until you reach a bridleway on the right, just before the farm. Follow this along the hilltop. Cross the road and follow a grassy track to a crossing before the trees. Turn left here, onto the South Downs Way.

7Keep ahead on the South Downs Way, crossing a couple of roads, passing a golf course and, eventually, descending back into Jevington on a long, rough track. Turn left at the bottom, then right, back into the car park.

Note: You can extend this route by joining them an made trail in Fr is ton Forest( be warned that the sign posting isn’ t great ). At the first wide track crossing in the forest, turn left and then right, onto some single track. Follow this to the ca feat the car park in Exceat,t hen pickup the start of the way marked trail and follow it back to the track crossing from earlier to rejoinourroute.