Location: Tadworth RH5 6BY
The London area has such a unique relationship to natural spaces. There are incredible parks throughout the city, but the surrounding areas can be anything from empty and boring to suddenly having a large, hike-able hill in the middle of nowhere.
Located southwest of London on the edge of the Surrey Hills is Box Hill. It is one of the more famous hikes in the London area and I’m so excited I finally went!
There are a number of different paths for different difficulty levels and each are clearly marked. I wanted to walk around without following a strict path, so I just made it up as I went along.
Getting There:
There are a few different routes to get to Box Hill. The closest train station is Box Hill & Westhumble Station, but I took a direct train from Clapham Junction in Central London straight to Dorking. The train was a 55 minute trip through the countryside and a cost about £8.
From Dorking Station, it is a 20 minute walk past Denbies Wine Estate to the Stepping Stones car park at the base of Box Hill. There is a small cafe here called Routine Coffee, which I didn’t try but it looked adorable.
My Route:
I chose to start at the Stepping Stones, an iconic path at the base of Box Hill that crosses a river via stepping stones. If the stones are flooded or not for you, there is a footbridge a little farther down that you can take instead.
The Stepping Stones route is a circluar one, and my mistake was crossing the River Mole via the stones first. What quickly followed was 275, large steps that took me 80% up the mountain. I have little legs, so this was definitely a workout.
If I had taken the footbridge first instead of the stones, then eventually I would have hiked down the steps instead. Lesson learned there.
After making it through the steps, the path joined the Hill Top Stroll route, which I followed around to the left towards the Box Hill fort. This was built in the 1800s to protect againt invasion, but it was not used for long. The remnants of the compound are still there for people to explore.
The fort is at the top of Box Hill, as well as the cafe, ice cream shop, main car park, and the Viewing Point that shows a beautiful panoramic of Dorking and Leith Hill. It took me about an hour to make it here from the Stepping Stones.
Other Box Hill Routes:
The main Box Hill car park is also where you can access the rest of the hiking routes, such as:
- The Box Hill Hike
- Happy Valley Circular Walk
- Hill Top Stroll
- Juniper Top
- Leith Hill Greenway Walk
They offer free guided walks following these routes, and part of the North Downs Way overlaps here.
The National Trust website details the paths here: Walking at Box Hill
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