With spring upon us I thought it was about time to add another classic to the list of local Bath walks and this one is an absolute gem. Just a few steps away from the city you’re immersed in countryside. I love the variety, with a route that takes you across lush meadows and up onto the top of the hillside overlooking Bath providing you with the most spectacular views. There are sections of dense woodland and open fields past grazing sheep and cows. Cross the golf course with yet more far reaching views across the valley to Little Solsbury Hill and back down into ancient woodland past Sham Castle.
There’s plenty of options to join the route depending on where you want to start and I’ve chopped large sections off to make it shorter on a few occasions.
One of my ongoing challenges with the route is finding the way markers. It has junctions with lots of other routes so I constantly found myself checking the route map and wondering which path to take. However, I’ve realised that as long as you know the general direction you’re heading in then you can take several paths that lead to the same place, if that makes sense.
There’s no cafe or pubs en route so a picnic is a good idea or I’ve included a few options a short detour off the route.
MAP & DIRECTIONS
Walking Map & Directions – below is a fully interactive map with directions, elevation & distances. Download the plotaroute app to follow the route on your phone with a few simple steps.
Here’s a few alternative maps to choose from:
National Trust Bath Skyline Map with full walking directions here.
Bath Skyline Walk GPS map link to OS Map routes and Open Street Map
THE WALK HIGHLIGHTS
The views, in particular are the highlight of this walk.
Personally i prefer to walk it in an anticlockwise route but the National Trust maps take you clockwise.
Richens Orchard is beautiful and at this time of year will be abundant spring blossom.
The short detour to Sham Castle is definitely worth a look. A notable folly built around 1755 and makes for a lovely visit, taking in wonderful views of the city. So you’re not disappointed, it’s not actual a castle, it’s basically a screen wall commissioned by Ralph Allen (known for quarrying bath stone) to improve the view from his home in the city.
Fairy Woods has long been a favourite section with a magical fairy door trail and The Discovery Trail, a circuit in its own right. There’s a a huge wooden play area, with a steep sided quarry with balance beams, a giant log, knotted ropes, scramble net and steps to scramble out. There’s a walk on see-saw, dens to build and explore and an epic tree rope swing, all overlooked by the Guardian of the Woodland.
As a National Trust walk there’s a wealth of information about this route. These highlights are definitely worth a read.
PRACTICAL INFORMATION
- TERRAIN: Partly paved road but otherwise a variety of marked footpaths which can be rocky and muddy especially in the woods. Steep ascent to the top at the beginning & steep descent at the end.
- PARKING: If you’re starting in Bath town centre you’ll need to use one of the paid car parks. Free parking is pretty limited near town but there’s a few spaces with four hours of free parking on Sydney Road (get there early) or you can park without restriction on Claverton Down.
- LENGTH: 10.2km / 6.3 miles – plenty of options to shorten or lengthen
- DURATION: It took me around 3hrs at a leisurely pace
- ELEVATION: There a fairly steep ascent at the beginning of this route, 240m/800ft, but otherwise it’s mostly flat. Check the plotaroute map for the elevation profile.
- DOG FRIENDLY: Yes, livestock grazing in some fields
- PUB & CAFE OPTIONS: There aren’t any en route so I’d recommend taking a picnic. You could grab a particularly good coffee & fresh pastry at Dexters just before you join the trail here. During the summer months there’s a National Trust coffee cart on the stretch after Rainbow Woods. You could detour to the American Museum which has a cafe (you have to pay to get in to the museum).
