Activities at Chilterns Countryside

Countryside ranger walks

Explore the countryside around Hughenden and the Chilterns on a guided walk with our ranger team and find out about the conservation work that supports nature and encourages wildlife.

Coombe Hill Trees, Shrubs and Grass

This short walk around the beautiful Chilterns countryside of Coombe Hill and Low Scrubs takes you to and describes some of the notable plants that have populated this landscape. It also explains how the National Trust and its volunteers work to conserve them.

• Easy
• 1 hour
• 1.6 miles (2.55km)

West Wycombe: Ridges and Bottoms

This 8 mile walk heads northwest of West Wycombe to some beautiful countryside and woodland with far-reaching views.

• Challenging
• 4 hours
• 8.0 miles (12.85km)

Bradenham beech woods and bunkers trail

This is a medium length walk in the woodlands and meadows of the Bradenham Manor Estate in Buckinghamshire village of Bradenham and neighbouring meadows.

• Moderate
• 2 hours
• 4.4 miles (7.05km)

Bradenham Estate

You could explore acres of countryside, with beech woodland surrounding a village that clusters around a village green. The village also has a pub, church and seventeenth century manor house, which is now tenanted.

The Best of Coombe Hill walk

This gentle circular stroll, which takes around 40 minutes, takes in the best Coombe Hill has to offer. You can expect panoramic views across the Aylesbury Vale and rare chalk grassland filled with wildflowers and butterflies in the summer.

• Easy
• 40 mins
• 1.0 mile (1.6km)

Bradenham countryside trail

This is a short walk around the Buckinghamshire village of Bradenham and neighbouring meadows.

• Easy
• 1 hour
• 2.0 miles (3.2km)

Bradenham Bolt useful race information

The when, where and how of the Bradenham Bolt 10k. All you need to know for a relaxed run-up to the big day.

Coombe Hill Woodland Walk

This gentle 3.5 mile circular walk passes mostly through sheltered woodland, from the mysterious coppiced beech of Low Scrubs to the towering beech standards of Linton’s Wood. The final section of the walk, in contrast, takes you around Coombe Hill, with its magnificent, far-reaching views.

• Easy
• 1 hour 3 mins
• 3.5 miles (5.6km)

Discover bluebells in the Chilterns Countryside

There’s nothing more enchanting than stumbling across a vibrant carpet of woodland bluebells. There are many places at Hughenden and in the Chiltern Hills where bluebells flourish and they are at their best between mid-April and late May.

'Exploring the Chiltern Escarpment': a walk between Coombe Hill and Whiteleaf Hill

This 10 mile walk offers a range of panoramic views across the Chiltern Escarpment and the Aylesbury Vale. See a range of historical and archaeological sites, as well as the pretty village of Ellesborough and the prime minister’s country retreat at Chequers. With several important ecological habitats, ranging from rare chalk grassland to archetypal Chiltern beech woodlands, you’ll also pass through the largest remaining area of natural box woodland in Britain.

• Challenging
• 5 hours
• 10.0 miles (16.05km)

Bradenham Butterfly Trail

This is a short trail that can be walked at any time of the year, but to see butterflies it is at its best on a warm, dry day, without strong winds at any time between April and September. You are most likely to see the greatest variety of species between May and August.

• Easy
• 1 hour 30 mins
• 2.3 miles (3.7km)

Chiltern Hills, Valleys and Woodlands Walk

This is an 8 mile (13 kilometre) walk starting in the National Trust’s Bradenham Village and leading you through a mix of chalk meadows, beech woodlands and a variety of farmland.

• Moderate
• 3 hours 30 mins
• 8.0 miles (12.85km)

The Hampdens Trail

An eight mile walk takes you through undulating farmland and heavily wooded hillsides around the Hampden Bottom valley, one of the least populated and most beautiful parts of the Buckinghamshire Chilterns. You visit remote hillside hamlets and pass through the grounds of the stunning Hampden House.

• Moderate
• 4 hours
• 8.1 miles (13.0km)

Beacon Hill, Juniper Bank and Aston Wood Walk

A moderate walk around the Aston Rowant National Nature Reserve and the National Trust woodlands at Juniper Bank and Aston Wood. Some of the route coincides with the way-marked Aston Rowant Discovery Trail.

• Moderate
• 2 hours
• 4.5 miles (7.2km)

Watlington Hill and the Wormsley Estate – An Emblematic Chilterns Walk

This is a 8.4 miles (13.4 kilometres) walk taking you around the National Trust’s Watlington Hill site, Pyrton Hill, Cowleaze Wood and the Wormsley Estate.

• Challenging
• 4 hours
• 8.4 miles (13.5km)

Hambleden and Pheasant’s Hill Trail

This circular, 5.0 mile walk starts and ends in the flint and red brick village of Hambleden. The walk initially ascends the east side of the Hambleden Valley; it then descends through the hamlet of Pheasants Hill. The route then explores the west side of the Hambleden Valley, with its beech woods and distant views across the valley and towards Hambleden village below.

• Moderate
• 2 hours 30 mins
• 5.0 miles (8.0km)

Hambleden Mill to Henley-on-Thames – a circular walk

This circular, 6.1 miles (9.8 km) walk starts at the site of an extensive Roman villa complex with a dark history. It then crosses the River Thames via a weir and a lock at Hambleden Mill, before heading upstream along the river bank alongside the regatta course to Henley-on-Thames. This stretch of river is usually busy with boats of many types, and a wide variety of geese, ducks, swans, cormorants and other water birds. In the summer months it is popular with numerous leisure boats.

• Moderate
• 3 hours
• 6.1 miles (9.8km)