Distance: About 10 miles / 16 km.

Difficulty: Medium

Ascent: My iPhone tracked a total of 33 flights climbed during my walk.There are only two big hills to climb: St. Martha’s Hill and Chinthurst Hill, which is an add-on to the official route

Ease of Navigation: Very easy. This walk is included in the Wey-South Path guidebook.

Walking Time: About 4 hours, plus lunch time at the top of Chinthurst Hill

Ease of Access: This walk is very easily accessible from London, with regular train service to Guildford station. You could also access the circle from Chilworth station, if that’s closer to you.

The Walk

I think I’m done with long distance trails for this year, seeing as how I’m not a bit winter walker, but I’m already planning my walks for 2017 and one of them will be the Wey-South Path, a 36 mile (58 km) trail that runs between Guildford and Amberley. If you’ve read my book on the Downs Link, you know how much I love that trail, and this is a very similar path that actually coincides with the Downs Link for a short stretch.

To build up anticipation for next year’s walk, I purchased the Wey-South Path guidebook, and decided to try one of the circular walks they include at the end of the guidebook. They recommend a number of shorter walks that follow the Wey-South Path for at least a little bit of the circle. This walk is an easily accessible circular path that starts and ends in Guildford. The circle also passes through Chilworth, very near to the station, so that’s another option for accessing this path.

What I love about this circular walk is that it takes you on portions of three trails: the North Downs Way, the Downs Link, and the Wey-South Path, giving you a short sample of each of these routes. You’ve got an enormous variety of scenery: the River Wey, Chantry Wood, incredible views from St. Martha’s Hill, lush ferns coming down along the Downs Link, farmland, heathland, more gorgeous views from the top of Chinthurst Hill, the Wey & Arun Canal, and back to the River Wey.

This is a fantastic day walk in the Surrey Hills, and I’m sure I’ll be adding it to my repertoire of walks for my upcoming Meetup group. I highly recommend it!

You can view photos of my walk on Facebook.

Related reading

This book will help you plan your walk along the Wey-South Path, a 35-mile trail that links the North Downs Way to the South Downs Way, following the old towpath of the Wey & Arun Canal. The Wey-South Path is an excellent trail for a long weekend walk, or for walkers seeking to do a first long-distance trail.

More than just a walking travelogue or memoirs of a walking holiday, this book contains the author’s reflections on walking the Wey-South Path, including lessons learned and practical information to help you plan your Wey-South Path hiking adventure. It includes a suggested packing list, gear recommendations, and other useful tips, such as when to walk the trail, where to stay, and how much you’ll need to budget.

It also includes tips on how to access the trail, and how to walk it in either direction. This book will not only get you inspired to walk the Wey-South Path or any other long distance trail, it will encourage you to get outdoors more often.

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