Dacorum Daily

Bovingdon · outdoors

Best Walks in Bovingdon

Commons toward Chipperfield and Flaunden, big skies over the old airfield.

Not Chiltern-scarps beautiful. Open, walkable, under-rated.

Footpaths get muddy after rain. Choose boots accordingly.

Mud, waymarks, a pint or a bus at the end, and whether the car park is a trap.

Bovingdon is small enough that an honest “best walks” list should admit gaps. These are the nearest Dacorum options we would actually send you to.

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01

Aldbury village and pond

The Green, Aldbury · Tring

Aldbury is almost too photogenic, which is why you should still go, just not at 11am on a bank holiday if you need a parking space. Walk up to the monument or stay on the green. The pubs work harder than the film crews.

02

Ashridge Estate

Monument Drive, near Aldbury · Berkhamsted

The essential Dacorum landscape. Start at the monument or at Aldbury, pick a colour of mud, and accept that summer Saturdays are communal. Bluebells in spring are famous for a reason; so are the car parks that fill by 10am.

03

Berkhamsted Castle

White Hill, Berkhamsted · Berkhamsted

William’s half-brother, Thomas Becket, a motte you can still scramble. Berkhamsted Castle is English Heritage, free to enter, and the first thing children should see when they get off the train. Combine with the canal and a High Street bun.

04

Boxmoor Trust lands

Boxmoor, Hemel Hempstead · Hemel Hempstead

The Boxmoor Trust keeps grazing animals and open land in a corridor most towns would have sold. Walk it from St John’s to the canal. It is why Boxmoor house prices are not Adeyfield house prices.

05

Gadebridge Park

Leighton Buzzard Road, Hemel Hempstead · Hemel Hempstead

Gadebridge is where the town holds Armed Forces Day, learns to ride a bike, and walks the dog into the water. Green Flag judged, civic by default, and the best free hour you can spend with children in central Hemel.

06

Jellicoe Water Gardens

Marlowes, Hemel Hempstead · Hemel Hempstead

The Water Gardens are Hemel’s argument that New Towns could be beautiful. A canalised River Gade, listed status, a 2017 restoration. Lunchtime walk for The Forum; golden-hour photography for everyone else.