Family cycling at Ashridge Estate
Set in the heart of the Chilterns is National Trust site, Ashridge Estate. Boasting a huge area of woodlands and downland, it’s free to explore and a great place for cycling with the whole family. You can enjoy bluebells in the spring, beautiful golden colours in the autumn, or spot a fallow deer and other wildlife.
Ashridge is easy to get to from nearby towns such as Tring, Berkhamsted and Hemel Hempstead. Some of the routes are on-road but there are off-road options too. For more details on how to get to Ashridge, check out this map.
Once you’re at Ashridge, there are plenty of route options using quiet roads, tracks and bridleways that are legal to cycle on.
There are five promoted routes of varying lengths that take in the best parts of the Estate. They all start from the Visitor Centre at the Bridgwater Monument where there are toilets, refreshments and open grassy areas. Details of the routes can be found here.
There are also lots of other bridleways to explore - just follow the blue arrows, but please be sensitive to the site and observe the signs to help protect this special place.
For keen mountain bikers there are more trails at Wendover Woods and a 6km cross-country circuit, five downhill trails and a pumptrack at nearby Aston Hill.
Getting to Ashridge Estate by bike:
Road routes are available from Tring and Berkhamsted train stations, just check the map mentioned above. Other route options include:
From Berkhamsted train station: 4.2 miles mostly off-road on bridleways. The route has a steep climb through a housing estate onto a muddy section of bridleway but then improves as it joins Byway 39 with not much more climbing. After the road crossing, Northchurch Common has a solid grass surface and then joins well surfaced gravel tracks to the Countryside Festival.
From Tring train station: 2.2 miles on and off road. A short section of road from the station takes you to a bridleway all the way to Aldbury. There's a steep road climb up Tom's Hill out of the village to join a gravel bridleway to the Countryside Festival.
From Steps Hill car park (grass car park near Ivinghoe Beacon overlooking Whipsnade Zoo): 2 miles all off road on reasonably good surfaces using the Chilterns Cycleway along Duncombe Terrace.
