Chiltern Walks: Great Gaddesden and Ashridge
Lonely Tree near Nettleden
Start & Finish: Hemel Hempstead Garden Centre, Piper's Hill, Great Gaddesden, Hemel Hempstead, HP1 3BY
Distance: 9.3 km (5.8 miles)
Elevation change: +/- 153m
Hertfordshire Way section covered: Great Gaddesden to the Ashridge Estate: 4 km
GPX File: get via Buy Me a Coffee
Other routes touched (walk): Hertfordshire Way, Ashridge Boundary Trail,
Other routes touched (cycle): Chilterns Cycleway, Iknield Way Riders Route
Pubs / Cafes on route: Hemel Hempstead Garden Centre cafe at the start and end
Map: Chiltern Hills North Map | Aylesbury, Berkhamsted & Chesham | Ordnance Survey | OS Explorer Map 181
Links: Great Gaddesden, Ashridge Estate, Nettleden
The Hertfordshire Way offers an incredible opportunity to circumnavigate one of England's home counties, revealing its hidden charms and surprising variety. This circular long-distance footpath, stretching around 273 km (170 miles), guides walkers through the county's most picturesque landscapes, proving that green spaces are never far, even in this area close to London. We walked the Chilterns part of the Hertfordshire Way in 15 sections over a couple of years. We used my “Greater Chilterns” definition that takes the trail from the River Lea near Wheathampstead to the River Colne near Garston. This route is one of those 15 circular walks.
The guidance below will help you navigate but don’t use it as a fully accurate turn-by-turn guide. Always take a map and/or a GPX route and prepare well for the weather and terrain.
For this walk we parked at Hemel Hempstead Garden Centre off Piper’s Hill (road). It’s for customer parking but if you visit the cafe or buy something from the shop and come back before closing time they’re unlikely to mind. The actual start of the walk is at the corner of Piper’s Hill (road) and Church Meadow (road). Walk up Church Meadow in a northerly direction then continue as it curves round in an anti-clockwise direction. Near the end of Church Meadow take the footpath on the right after house #20 to follow the Hertfordshire Way in an west / north-westerly direction.
The Hertfordshire Way will join St Margaret’s Road near the entrance to the Amaravati Buddhist Monastery. Continue along the road keeping the monastery on your left. Just over 1 km along St Margaret’s Road take a path on the left to cross a field to the bottom of a valley, take a right to follow the valley bottom path to reach Nettleden Road. Cross over the road to pass through a small patch of woodland to join the Ashridge Boundary Trail. At this point leave the Hertfordshire Way to follow the Ashridge Boundary Trail heading south.
Follow the Ashridge Boundary Trail for ~3 km until Highridge Farm Camping then take a left to reach Nettleden Road. Take a right onto Nettleden Road then a left onto Pipers Hill. Follow Pipers Hill in a north-easterly direction all the way back to Great Gaddesden.
