Early summer in Epping Forest to Lee Valley | Free Hike 23.5km (14.6mi)

Grade: 🥾🥾 🥾Level 3/5
——
📖SUMMARY:
🥾23.5km (16mi) | Ascent 394m | Descent 429m | Max Elevation 115m
🚊Train:
1- Outbound: Single Ticket London Liverpool Street ➡️ Chingford
2- Inbound: Single Ticket Chesthunt ➡️ London
😁This is a Friendly Oyster or contactless (bank card) trip. No advance tickets are needed.
⛳️ Meeting Point: 2 Options
1- London Liverpool Street train station - Information desk (Opposite Platform 10) | 09:40 (Train is at 10:02)
2- Chingford - Outside train station | 10:30
⚠️This is a Point to Point (not Circular) Hike
📍Hike start: Chingford train station | 10:35
🔚Hike finish: Chesthunt train station | approx. ~17:00

——
🚊TRAIN TICKET INFORMATION:
I would recommend you get:
🎟️This is a Friendly Oyster or contactless (bank card) trip, both for the outward and return journeys. There’s no need to buy tickets in advance, as fares are paid directly by tapping in and out at the stations.

• ➡️Outbound: London Liverpool Street 10:02 → 10:28 Chingford
• ⬅️Inbound: Chesthunt → London

💡If you’d like to join other hikers using a Network Railcard, please arrive earlier so we can organise small groups. Note that each card can cover up to 4 people.
🚦Visit National Rail for details

——
📕ABOUT:
- A proper London-edge adventure that strings together two of the capital’s most underrated wild spaces in a single walk — ancient Epping Forest and the lakes and waterways of the Lee Valley.
- We start at Chingford, where Queen Victoria opened the Forest to the people in 1882, then head straight in past Queen Elizabeth’s Hunting Lodge and pretty Connaught Water.
- From there it’s miles of rolling, knobbly oak and beech woodland — some trees as old as the Anglo-Saxons — climbing gently to the High Beach ridge at 115m, the day’s high point.
- A long, lovely descent through Sewardstone drops us out of the trees and into the Lee Valley: marshes, lakes, reedbeds, and the calm of the Lee Navigation towpath all the way into Cheshunt.

——
⭐️HIGHLIGHTS:

• Chingford & Queen Elizabeth’s Hunting Lodge: 1543 Tudor grandstand on the edge of the Forest.
• Connaught Water: peaceful early-morning lake, popular with herons and swans.
• Epping Forest ancient woodland: 5,900 acres of veteran oaks, beeches and hornbeams; some trees as old as the Anglo-Saxons.
• High Beach ridge: the day’s high point, classic Forest views.
• Sewardstone: the Forest’s quiet western edge, opening into farmland.
• River Lee Country Park: lakes, wetlands and excellent birdwatching.
• Lee Navigation towpath: tranquil canal walking right into Cheshunt.

——
💷COST: Free
This hike is completely free to join but participants need to purchase their own transport tickets.

——
🎒WHAT TO BRING:

• 2L Water
• Packed lunch and snacks
• Comfortable walking/hiking shoes
• Weather-appropriate clothing (layers, waterproofs, hat, sunscreen)
• Optional: trekking poles, camera

——
✅WHO CAN JOIN:
• ‍‍Our hikes are open to adults aged 21 and over.
• For safety reasons, we’re not able to include children.
• We love animals, but pets (including dogs) can’t join our hikes.

——
🚨RSVP & ATTENDANCE:
RSVP only if you plan to attend. Please cancel as early as possible if you can no longer make it so others can join. A no-show means you RSVPed but did not attend or cancelled just before or after the start time. Repeated no-shows or late cancellations without a valid reason may lead to removal. Reliable regulars who end up on a waitlist may message the host for priority consideration.

——
☯️STAYING TOGETHER:
A dedicated back marker is not always present, so please keep others in sight and avoid moving too far ahead or falling too far behind. Faster walkers should wait at junctions. The hike leader will pause at key points to regroup and reduce the chance of anyone becoming separated from the group.

——
⚠️ DISCLAIMER:
By joining, you confirm that you have read and accepted the group policy on the About page. You are responsible for your own safety, and neither the host nor the group can be held liable for injury, loss, or damage.