Box Hill circuit

Four weeks after arriving in London for a year-long sabbatical, I was itching to get outdoors – out in the hills, forests, and meadows, after weeks of city life. Don’t get me wrong – I am truly enjoying the chance to explore London, and to adapt to city living. But I am a country mouse, at heart, and needed to be out where I could climb hills, take in broad vistas, and listen to the wind in the trees. After some online snooping, I settled on this eight-mile circular walk around Box Hill, just an hour’s train journey south of London. Read on!

The trickiest part of the day was figuring out how to use the National Rail system – which is really a confederation of a dozen or more separate rail systems – to get to the trailhead. Fortunately, there is a train directly from Victoria Station (a few blocks from our flat). After sorting out how to purchase tickets, and where and how to board the train, I was off on my adventure.

An hour later, armed with a screenshot of the website description of the hike, and my GaiaGPS maps, I stepped off onto the platform at the tiny, unmanned station serving the very tiny village of Westhumble. (It’s the stop just before the larger town of Dorking. Who came up with these names?) To reach the actual route, as described, I needed to wend my way through the outskirts of Westhumble, cross under the busy A24 highway, and find a path up to the ridgeline where I could join the route. All this went well, and I was soon standing on a grassy hilltop looking over the valley of the River Mole.

I spent the next three hours following the route – which was not always obvious, despite occasional directional signs dedicated to the Box Hill Circuit, because these hills and heaths are covered in a mesh of footpaths and bridle paths. The route went over grassy ridgelines, through leafy forests, down steep embankments, up steep stairs, across pastures and fallow farm fields, through the back streets of Box Hill village, and (at one point) through the graveyard behind a church whose bells were calling parishioners to service.

I saw plenty of other people, but not an overwhelming number – some locals out to walk the dog, some hard-core trail runners who passed me several times, and the occasional equestrian or mountain biker. All were in a genial mood on this lovely autumn day.

Near the end of my circuit I reached the high point, a viewpoint on Box Hill overlooking Dorking. Here there was a car park and a stone outlook, and many picnickers. I didn’t stay long, and descended by a steep but well-maintained trail toward the River Mole and Westhumble, where I passed many, many more daytrippers on their way up to the outlook. I was glad I came earlier, and very glad to have spent most of my walk around the loop and not here at the busy, direct route to the viewpoint.

I crossed the River Mole at a place aptly named “stepping stones”, and headed back under the A24 toward the train station. But ah, here is a pub! also aptly (but less literally) named “Stepping Stones”. I stepped inside, ordered a burger and a pint, and realized that this is the way all good hikes should end. 🙂

Be sure to visit the gallery for more photos!

Hike stats:
Distance: 8.97 miles (14.44km)
Time: 4 hours
Gain: 1,768 feet (539m)
… there was lots of up and down!
(before lunch at the pub; I had another 15min walk from pub to train)