Walking The Greensand Way Part 9 - Pitch Hill and Holmbury Hill

Start & Finish: Hurtwood Car Park 3, Pitch Hill, Cranleigh, GU6 7NL
Distance: 10 km (6.2 miles)
Elevation change: +/- 239m
Greensand Way section covered: Pitch Hill Car Park to Holmbury St Mary: 5.25 km
GPX File: get via Buy Me a Coffee
Other routes touched (walk): None
Other routes touched (cycle): Various mountain bike trails in The Hurtwood
OS Trig Pillar: TP2379 - Coneyhurst Hill
Pubs / Cafes on route: The Royal Oak at Holmbury St Mary (5.8 km in)
Map: Dorking, Box Hill & Reigate Map | Leatherhead & Caterham | Ordnance Survey | OS Explorer Map 146
Links: The Hurtwood, Pitch Hill (Peakbagger), Holmbury Hill (Peakbagger), Holmbury Camp, Holmbury St Mary

This is the ninth of a series of short circular walks featuring the Greensand Way. The full trail is a long distance path stretching from Haslemere in Surrey to Ham Street in Kent. Our walks take in short sections of the Greensand Way and loop back to the start on other paths. The Greensand Way is well sign posted however you’ll need a map or GPX route to keep on track for the return sections of the loops. The guidance below will help but don’t use it as a fully accurate turn-by-turn guide.

For this section we parked at Pitch Hill Car Park at the far western end of this section of the route. This is the same parking spot as we used for section 8. You can follow the Greensand Way directly out of the south-eastern corner of the car-park, ascending to Pitch Hill summit. For the first half of the walk you’ll be following the Greensand Way signs mostly along the ridgeline through the Hurtwood. Pitch Hill and Holmbury Hill are the 2 literal high points of the walk with great views to the south. At Holmbury Hill you get a clear view over to Leith Hill, Surrey’s County Top and your destination for section 10. After the Holmbury Hill viewpoint you’ll descend through the site of Holmbury Camp, an Iron Age hillfort.

When you reach Horsham Road at 5.25km you’ll leave the Greensand Way and take a left, heading north to the village of Holmbury St Mary. The Royal Oak pub in the village centre is a good place to stop for a mid-walk rest. After the Royal Oak take a left onto Felday Glade and follow it for 200m taking a footpath on the right. The path ascends steeply and takes you back into the Hurtwood. Continue in a westerly direction along trails in the Hurtwood to Ewhurst Road, crossing over, then continuing in a south-westerly direction back to the car-park. There’s a lot of different trails in the second half so a GPX route and/or good map skills is essential.