Oxted and the North Downs Way

Recommended by

Walk directions

Take the walkway from the corner of the car park (by the toilets) to Station Road East and turn left. Turn left again when you get to Gresham Road, then turn right at the top into Bluehouse Lane. Lastly, turn left again into Park Road and, at the bend, continue straight ahead on the signposted public footpath towards Woldingham, between the school and its playing fields. Cross the stile beyond the playing fields, and head around the field edge towards the footbridge over the M25 motorway.

Cross the motorway, and follow the path to the left to go through a metal kissing gate and swing left onto the North Downs Way (NDW). Follow this breezy downland path to reach a signposted T-junction, and bear left on the NDW to drop down steeply, through a kissing gate to a lane. Turn right for 30yds (27m) and then left, signed NDW. Soon pass through a kissing gate and follow the field edge until it turns right for the assault on the North Downs ridge. Pass through another two kissing gates before bearing left.

Follow the path as it burrows through the trees, and turn hard right up a flight of 110 steps. Don’t miss the view from the seat a third of the way up, directly above the railway tunnel. Swing left at the top of the steps, and follow the NDW to the road at Ganger’s Hill. On reaching a few more steps on your right continue ahead on the NDW.

Continue on the path below the road until reaching a fingerpost, then turn left off the NDW, dropping down towards Oxted. Join the bridleway halfway down, and carry on across the bridge over the M25 onto the lane past Barrow Green Court on your left. Cross over Barrow Green Road, squeeze through the kissing gate buried in the hedge directly opposite, then follow the fenced footpath along the edge of the field past Townland Pond, on your right, and out onto Sandy Lane, beside The Lodge.

Turn right, pass underneath the A25, and cross Oxted High Street at The Old Bell pub. Follow Beadles Lane for 200yds (183m), then turn left into Springfield and fork off onto a footpath at the bend in the road. Drop gently down to Spring Lane, and the picturesque Oxted Mill (The Watermill is privately owned). A 500yd (457m) diversion, on the Greensand Way, leads you to The Haycutter pub, crossing straight over Spring Lane. Zig-zag right and left, then take the waymarked path through a kissing gate, over three stiles and through the meadows to the pub.

The main route turns left past the mill, and left again over the stile at the sluice gate. Follow the path over a stile and a little bridge through to Woodhurst Lane, and turn left. Turn left again into Woodhurst Park and take the narrow footpath on the right, and cross the A25 into East Hill Road. At the foot of the hill, turn right up Station Road West, then go through the station subway at the top. Turn right into Station Road East to return to the car park.

View all directions

Location

Nearest postcode:

Additional information

Terrain - Field-edge paths, farm tracks, town roads, 6 stiles

Landscape - Townscape, downland and chalk cliffs – keep well back from the cliff edges

Dog friendliness - Good on Downs, around Oxted dogs must be on leads

Parking - Ellice Road car park, off Station Road East, Oxted

Toilets en route - At car park

Walks in Surrey Dog-friendly walks in Surrey

About the walk

If Swindon or Crewe is your idea of a railway town, then you’re in for a surprise. The railway came late to the medieval village of Oxted, but it didn’t destroy the character of the place. Instead, when Oxted expanded to embrace the new arrival, it developed its own unique style. To begin with, it...

Been on this walk?

Send us photos or a comment about this route. Or recommend a route of your own.

Find out more

Walking in Safety

Read our tips to look after yourself and the environment when following this walk.

Learn more

Get an AA guide

Explore our range of ‘50 Walks in’ guides - they’re the ideal companion for a ramble.

Learn more

Been on this walk?

Send us photos or a comment about this route. Or recommend a route of your own.

Find out more

Walking in Safety

Read our tips to look after yourself and the environment when following this walk.

Learn more

Get an AA guide

Explore our range of ‘50 Walks in’ guides - they’re the ideal companion for a ramble.

Learn more

About the area

Surrey is one of England’s most wooded counties, with over a quarter of the landscape designated as an official AONB and plenty of history evident in the countryside. You’ll find sandy tracks, cottage gardens and welcoming village inns, and on the fringe of Greater London you can picnic in Chaldon’s hay meadows, explore the downs at Epsom, or drift idly beside the River Thames.