The Ridgeway · Stage 2
Walking time measured on the mapped line (TrailSplits time model, moving time; within 22 % on four in five test legs). Outside Switzerland our walking times often run short of the times route operators publish; treat them as optimistic. Climb measured on the mapped line, on terrain heights.
The most remote section: across the M4 and by Liddington Castle, Fox Hill and Wayland's Smithy to the car park at Sparsholt Firs: 25.6 km. Nothing to buy on the ridge; the villages lie below it.
Best season: All year; May to November is driest underfoot. The trail is open all year. Its chalk and earth surface turns wet and muddy in winter, rutted in places, and National Trails says the ground is better from May to November. Bluebells flower in early May, the chalk grassland from June to August, and the Chiltern beech woods colour in late October and November. Before you go
Facts read from the guide's sources and OpenStreetMap on 13 October 2026. A page can change after we read it, so confirm with your accommodation before you rely on a date or a bed.
Stage start
Town
A village on the path with B&Bs and pubs.
OpenStreetMap lists at least 3 places to stay within about 1300 m (read 13 October 2026). TrailSplits has not checked which are open.
The Sanctuary B&B · Hotel
Season 2026: 2026 dates not published
The Well Guesthouse · Hotel
Season 2026: 2026 dates not published
Stage end
Trailhead
A car park on the downs where the B4001 crosses, with no village. Down Barn Farm on Sparsholt Down is close by; Court Hill's hostel and small campsite is on the path about 3 km on, and Letcombe Regis and Wantage are 2 to 3.5 km below the ridge.
Court Hill Centre · Hostel or bunkhouse
Season 2026: 2026 dates not published
Letcombe Regis · Town
Down Barn Farm · Camping spot
Season 2026: 2026 dates not published
No walking time is published for this leg. Measured on the mapped line, the stage takes about 6 h 18 of walking.
Make it your trip
Places to stay are few in some areas, National Trails says, so book ahead; wild camping needs the landowner's permission. Court Hill asks walkers to book, as it is often full with groups. Several stays open only part of the year: White Mark Farm's campsite at Watlington is closed for winter until 25 March 2027, and Town Farm at Ivinghoe takes no tents until spring 2027.
The National Trail's six sections, a night at the end of each.
Plan this journeyThe open chalk downs west of the Thames in three sections.
Plan this journeyThe Chilterns in three sections, with a station at every end.
Plan this journeyLoading the forecast for on the trail (209 m)…
Typical weather on this stage, around 142–276 m. Select a month to see why it is rated as it is.
| Month | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weather | Mixed | Mixed | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Mixed |
| Day / night | 7°/1° | 7°/1° | 10°/2° | 12°/4° | 16°/7° | 19°/9° | 21°/11° | 21°/11° | 18°/9° | 13°/7° | 10°/4° | 7°/2° |
| Rain, mm | 74 | 56 | 56 | 51 | 55 | 58 | 61 | 70 | 64 | 83 | 88 | 84 |
| Snow at high point | Frost | Frost | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | Frost |
| Daylight | 8 h 19 | 9 h 57 | 11 h 46 | 13 h 48 | 15 h 34 | 16 h 36 | 16 h 13 | 14 h 41 | 12 h 44 | 10 h 47 | 8 h 56 | 7 h 53 |
Source: TerraClimate 1991–2020 monthly averages. Averages for the area at each point’s elevation (4 km grid, corrected for height). Not a forecast or a report of current trail conditions. Snow at the high point is estimated with a simple snowpack model from these temperatures and precipitation, not observed; steep islands and high summits can hold more snow than it shows. Daylight is for the 15th of each month. Hut, transport and park seasons are separate: check them for your dates.
Before you go
Arrange your stays, food and travel first, then check conditions again near departure.
National Trails lists the Ridgeway's diversions and cautions on its map. At Wendover, the High Speed 2 works divert the trail between the station and Bacombe Hill over a signed road route and a temporary bridge. The A34 underpass beyond Bury Down is narrowed to 1.6 m. Near Avebury the surface is badly rutted for about 3 miles, and there are cautions for a hole in the path under the Brunel railway bridge over the Thames, for rabbit scrapes on Lodge Hill, and for the steep path between Brush Hill and Princes Risborough, which can be slippery.
National Trails: the Ridgeway's trail information and mapAbout 33 km (20 miles) of the trail is byway. On much of it, seasonal orders keep motor vehicles off in winter: from 1 October to 30 April on the downs round Barbury and Ogbourne and between East Ilsley and Goring, from 1 November to 30 April in the Chilterns. Other byway stretches have no ban, and where vehicles may drive the ruts fill with water: wear boots that cope with chalk mud.
National Trails: vehicles on the Ridgeway (leaflet)West of the Thames the trail stays on the ridge, away from the villages: carry water for the day, and plan food for section 2, where there is nothing on the path. In the Chilterns the trail passes villages, pubs and stations.
National Trails: route descriptionGetting there
Travel around Ogbourne St George to Sparsholt Firs.
Google Maps journey searches, not confirmed services. A mountain endpoint may need a booked transfer or an additional walk.
Trains run to Swindon (Great Western Railway), and the 49 bus from Swindon to Avebury every day, National Trails says. From Avebury, walk about 2 km by the Sanctuary to Overton Hill, or join the trail on Green Street.
National Trails: public transport to either end (leaflet)East of the Thames every section ends near a station: Goring & Streatley (Great Western Railway), Princes Risborough and Wendover (Chiltern Railways), and Tring, on the trail about 6 km before the Beacon. Lewknor, near Watlington, has coaches to London and Oxford.
National Trails: getting to the RidgewayFrom the foot of the Beacon, the Red Eagle 61 runs to Tring, Aylesbury and Dunstable, Monday to Saturday; there is no Sunday service. Otherwise walk back to Tring station, about 6 km along the trail.
Red Eagle: bus servicesTake your trip with you
Prepare each section while you still have a connection: on the open downs west of the Thames the signal can be weak.
Keep your route and maps on your phone for places without a signal. For multi-day trips, prepare them in the installed TrailSplits app.
Saving a bookmark is not a map download. Storage can be cleared by your device; keep a backup map for remote trips.
Route & sources
National Trails gives 87 miles (139 km) from Overton Hill to Ivinghoe Beacon in six sections, south-west to north-east, the direction its guide and the prevailing wind favour. National Trails publishes no section times, only distances, so the times here are measured on our line. The line here is the route on OpenStreetMap (relation 8879, "The Ridgeway", from the planet of 11 October 2026): 138.9 km, cut at the six section ends. West of the Thames the trail follows the old ridge road across the open downs; east of it, footpaths and lanes through the Chilterns. Our climb is measured on terrain heights, so short steep banks are smoothed out.
Official guidance and mapped-source comparison checked 13 October 2026. Map data is a route reference, not confirmation of today's path, weather or accommodation availability.
National Trails: the RidgewayMap data © OpenStreetMap contributors · Source relation