Hambleden, Chilterns

Distance 38.2km (23.7 miles) Climbing 925m (3,035ft) Time 2hrs 30mins to 4hrs 30mins

Route summary This hilly part of the Chilterns provides typically fast singletrack, but with some bigger climbs and steeper, rougher descents. The trails fare better than some other local tracks in wet conditions

Start/ inish Mill End car park (grid ref SU 785/856, nearest postcode RG9 3BD)

1

Turn left on the road. After 0.5km, go left up a bridleway. When it flattens, follow a bridleway right, up into the trees, where it widens, then drops to the right. Go left on the road for 1km. Turn right up Colstrope Lane, then left at the T-junction.

2

After 0.6km, turn left. Follow the singletrack down to the road. Go left, right (through Skirmett), then left on Watery Lane, past the barrier. Follow the road ahead/left, through Turville. Go right after 0.8km, on a bridleway, into the wood.

3

Keep ahead on this trail, eventually forking right to go uphill. After the track turns to tarmac, pass some houses and turn left on a bridleway/drive. Keep ahead across the common. As you re-enter the trees, turn left through a gate, downhill.

4

Go sharp left at the bottom. Cross a private road and climb steeply. At the top, bear right to a road junction and join the tarmac ahead. Past the houses, keep left, towards Turville. At the start of a long tree-lined section, go left on an access road.

5

Follow this right, onto singletrack. At the common, turn left on a bridleway. Go over the road and right on a parallel track. Cross an access road to rejoin the bridleway from step 2.

6

At the road crossing, go left. Turn left at the top/T-junction, then right, just past the school. Follow this track down, then go right, into the trees, on a bridleway near the bottom. Keep ahead on this trail until you emerge at a road. Go left on it.

7

Follow the tarmac around to the right, then turn o right on a bridleway, before the metal gates, uphill. Cross an open section, then turn right at the T-junction. Follow the track into the trees and, bearing left, downhill. Turn right on the road, past the pub and church. Bear right at the fork (‘Turville’).

8

Back in Turville, turn left just past the pub, on a road that becomes a bridleway. Keep ahead on the singletrack, to a road. Go left on the tarmac, then, when it turns left, bear right to join a long bridleway climb. Keep ahead, past Kimble Farm. Turn left on the road and follow it around to the right (‘Fawley’).

9

Descend, then climb to the Roundhouse. Go left here, on the bridleway. Keep ahead on this track to descend out of the woods and down to the grass. Turn right on the track at the bottom, then left, back onto a bridleway. Stay on this to rejoin the bridleway you came up at the start. Continue down to the road and turn right, back to the car park.