Recreational walks in Kent

The following are lists of recreational walks in Kent, England.

hort walks

*Beacon Wood Country Park, located on the B225 road close to Bean, south of Bluewater Shopping Centre. Has circular walks and an easy access route. No toilets.
*Bedgebury National Pinetum (near Goudhurst) has a range of walks and an easy access trail, plus various cycle tracks too. The Visitor Centre is accessed from the B2079 road, about 1 kilometre from the A21 road.
*Blean Woods National Nature Reserve has trails ranging from 1.5 to 13 kilometres, one of which is an easy access trail. The reserve is accessed off the A290, with the entrance opposite Blean village. Picnic area but no toilets.
*Bough Beech Nature Reserve, at the north end of Bough Beech Reservoir, has a nature trail.
*Brockhill Country Park near Sandling (signposted from Junction 11 of the M20 road) has circular walks of 5 and 9.5 kilometres with gates, stiles and steps. These walks link to the Saxon Shore Way. Also shorter walks. A leaflet is available from the Visitor Centre.
*Brookers Farm circular walk, starts from Caldecott Farm off the B2075 road near New Romney.
*Chartwell has 3 waymarked walks that are accessible even when the property is closed, leaflets available when they are open.
*Cromers Wood Nature Reserve has waymarked circular walks. It is located to the south of Sittingbourne off the B2163 road between Tunstall and Rodmersham. No toilets.
*Dartford Heath has walks of 1.8 kilometers and 1 kilometer, and an easy access trail of 1.3 kilometers. Start at the car park on Heath Road between Dartford and Wilmington. No toilets.
*Dering Wood near Pluckley has a waymarked trail. It is located off the Headcorn to Pluckley road.
*Dungeness National Nature Reserve at Dungeness has an easy access nature trail. The RSPB has a Visitor Centre at the site.
*East Blean Wood has a circular walk of just under a kilometre and a 2.5 kilometre 'figure of 8' walk. Located off the A291 road on Hicks Forstal Road (signposted to Hoath).
*Evegate Craft Centre. Circular walks from the craft centre. Evegate is signposted off the A20 road between Folkestone and Ashford.
*Faesten Dic Walk at Joydens Wood (near Bexley and Dartford). 3.3 kilometre circular waymarked trail (following 'Faesten Dic Arrow' waymarks) through the woods and wetlands (the latter on boardwalks). Access is via Ferndell Avenue off of Summerhouse Drive.
*Golding Hop Farm and Bewley Land House. A circular walk in Plaxtol. (Directions: from Plaxtol, take Sheet Hill Road next to the church, then take the first left and look for the signboards).
*Grove Ferry Picnic Site just east of Upstreet has a circular walk (signposted from the A28 road, entrance is near the Grove Ferry Inn). Lots of gates but no stiles, paths mostly level. Toilets but no visitor centre.
*Ham Street Woods National Nature Reserve has waymarked trails of 2.5 and 5 kilometres. The Reserve is accessed from the B2067 at Ham Street. No toilets.
*High Halstow National Nature Reserve at High Halstow village , has a nature trail. No toilets.
*The High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty has lots of different walks — see the link to their website below ('External Links')
*Ightham Mote. Estate walks accessible even when the National Trust property is closed (walks leaflet from the ticket office when it is open).
*The Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty has lots of different walks — see the link to their website below ('External Links')
*King's Wood near Challock has a circular 'Beech Walk'. Accessed of the A251 road near Wye.
*Leybourne Lakes Country Park near Snodland has a variety of trails. Access is from the A228 road at Ham Hill.
*Knatts Valley. Many country walks of varying distances and difficulty Starting/ending point [http://www.foxnhounds.co.uk The Fox and Hounds Public House]
*Lullingstone Park near Eynsford (Castle Road off the A225 road south of Eynsford) has circular walks from its Visitor Centre.
*Oldbury Hill Picnic Site, near Ightham Common has a circular trail.
*Otham has a circular walk of 7 km which includes the Spot Lane Nature Reserve and Stoneacre, a small National Trust property. Details of it are available from its parish website as [http://www.othampc.kentparishes.gov.uk/userfiles/File/Walk_Maidstone_-_Otham.pdf a pdf file] .
*Scotney Castle estate has walks that are accessible even when the property is closed, estate walks leaflet available when it is open.
*Shorne Wood Country Park has waymarked circular walks and an easy access trail. It is signposted off the A2 road between Rochester and Gravesend.
*Sissinghurst Castle Gardens have woodland and lakeside walks that are accessible even when the property is closed.
*Stodmarsh National Nature Reserve, between Stodmarsh and Upstreet, has waymarked trails. Access both at the Stodmarsh and the Upstreet end, with easy access trails from both. The Stodmarsh entrance is accessed via a track from Stodmarsh next to the Red Lion Pub. (Click [http://www.english-nature.org.uk/about/teams/team_photo/Stodmarshmap.pdf here] for a pdf map of the Reserve).
*Stowting Court. On the B2068, a circular walk from the lay-by at the top of the hill at Stowting.
*Swanscombe Leisure Centre has information about the Swanscombe Skull Site National Nature Reserve, and from there there is a short waymarked walk into the Nature Reserve.
*Trosley Country Park is located between Meopham and Wrotham, signposted off the A227 near Vigo Village. It has a variety of circular trails from the visitor centre - 2.5km (yellow - easy access route and 'trim trail'), a flat route of 4km (red), and a 3km hilly route (blue) within the country park, plus walk B which goes for 5.5 km through the surrounding countryside.
*White Horse Wood Country Park has circular trails. It is located on the A259 road opposite the Kent County Showground.
*Wye National Nature Reserve has a 4 kilometre long trail, which is steep in places. The Reserve is 2 kilometres south east of Wye and is accessed via minor roads from the A28 road.

Longer walks

*Blean Woods National Nature Reserve has a 13 kilometre long trail. The reserve is accessed off the A290, with the entrance opposite Blean village.
*Darent Valley Path, 30 kilometres from Sevenoaks to the River Thames.
*Len Valley Walk, 19 kilometres from Maidstone to Lenham following the River Len
*Medway Valley Walk, 45 kilometres between Rochester and Tonbridge.
*Swale Heritage Trail, 18 kilometres from Sittingbourne to Goodnestone
*Trosley Country Park is located between Meopham and Wrotham, signposted off the A227 near Vigo Village. It has two longer circular trails from the visitor centre - the Harvel Hike (signposted as walk A), 12km long, and the Coldrum Trail (signposted as walk C), 10km long
*Wantsum Walk, 13 kilometres from Herne Bay to Birchington

Long-distance paths

*Greensand Way, 169 kilometres from Haslemere, Surrey to Hamstreet
*High Weald Landscape Trail, running 145 kilometres from Horsham to Rye (West Sussex, East Sussex, Kent)
*North Downs Way National Trail
*Saxon Shore Way, Gravesend, Kent — Hastings, East Sussex 261km
*South Downs Way National Trail
*Stour Valley Walk, 82 kilometres Lenham to Pegwell Bay
*Wealdway, Gravesend to Eastbourne, East Sussex 129km

ee also

*Long-distance footpaths in the UK

External links

* [http://www.faversham.org/visitors/walkinginfav.asp Faversham Council's walks page]
* [http://www.highweald.org/sites.asp?PageId=27 The High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty website] — describes a wide range of short walks across a large area of Kent, East Sussex and West Sussex
* [http://www.kentdowns.org.uk/places_to_go_walking.htm The Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty website] — describes a variety of walks in the Kent Downs.
* [http://www.bestwalks.com/kentbooks.htm bestwalks.com page of books for sale describing walks in Kent]
* [http://www.walkawhile.co.uk Walk AWhile Kent walking holidays] — Walk AWhile offer a range of walking holidays in the Kent Countryside.