Fairly Difficult Hiking Trails Throughout UK

[+maccath]

Hi folks,

 

I have a request. I was wondering if people could tell me the best hiking/geocaching trails throughout the UK that are of moderate difficulty, terrain wise.

 

I 'accidentally' signed up to do the Three Peaks Challenge for charity with my company, and I have six months to train and prepare. It's a 25-ish mile hike across three mountains - Snowdon, Ben Nevis and Scafell Pike - in 24 hours. I will be training by walking a few days a week, but I live in a relatively flat area (Salisbury) and would like to get out to practice/train on some ~~real~~ hills/mountains, maybe once a month.

 

I'd like to combine my training with activities I find enjoyable, so that's why I'm here. Can anyone recommend me some good Geocaches or Geocache trails that require some pretty serious hiking to get to? Preferably with trailheads nearby to bus and/or train routes (I can't drive) and it would be great if they were in the southern parts of the UK. I don't mind two day hikes as I could get to the destination by public transport on Friday night, hike out on Saturday and hike back on Sunday to travel back Sunday evening.

 

Thanks for your help!

[+keithnipper49]

Hi,best of luck,I did it a couple of years ago, good fun hard work we finished in 23hours 45 minutes, not bad at 55. There are caches on top of all three mountains, I wasn't geocaching then, so will have to return, the only real way to train for it is to walk up hills, bearing in mind where you live you could start on the south wales hills there are some good ones there, then you should really do Snowdon as part of your training as having been up there prior to the three peaks, will help you on the day, as metaly and physicaly it is the hardest, and it will probobaly be raining, was when we did it, bright sunshine in Scotland and England.

You do not say how much hill walking you have done or if you have any map reading skills, as the mountains can be dangerous especially when the low cloud comes down, that's when yours gps becomes dangerous.

Best of luck, if you come up to north wales there are some on the glyders and tryfan, both proper mountains, but if you want to start with lower hills look at the ones around Rachub.

Will stretch your legs but not to much and there is even a 5 x 5 you can do.

Hope it all goes well.

Keithnipper49

[team tisri]

Not a whole lot of hills in that area. The most local hill I can think of is Pepperbox Hill which isn't really all that demanding although if you were to walk up and down repeatedly at speed you'd get some benefit from it.

 

Your best bet is probably going to be to look at a map with contours (OpenCycleMap is good in that it shows contours, and the marked cycle routes could provide some insight into routes that are friendly to traffic that doesn't have an engine). I'd imagine you want some training locally and some that you'd travel further to get to?

 

If you take the train to Guildford and from there to Gomshall you've got the Surrey Hills to play in. They aren't going to be the same as climbing the three peaks but will give you some decent slopes to pitch yourself against. Depending on how far you want to walk and whether you want to walk on lanes or trails there's plenty to choose from, and the gradients go up to about 18-20% if you find the right hills.

 

An advantage of the general area is that there are a few places you can jump on the train to get back to Guildford so you don't necessarily have to plan a circular walk.

 

One other thing, practise steps. You'll find a lot of uneven stone steps on the way up Ben Nevis.

[+maccath]

Thanks for all of your advice.

 

You do not say how much hill walking you have done or if you have any map reading skills, as the mountains can be dangerous especially when the low cloud comes down, that's when yours gps becomes dangerous.

 

I have done very little hill walking. I have hiked up a few small mountains in Japan and Italy, which were exhausting for me, but nothing like the 3 peaks. I know I struggle with hills in general, so that's why I need to be serious about training if I'm going to succeed.

 

I have never done any orienteering, but I do have and know how to read a compass. If I do any serious mountain hiking, I will try and get hold of paper maps, but on the challenge we will have two mountain guides too.

[+whh0]

What about Dartmoor? Not sure if it is on Ben Nevis scale but certainly some good caching trails with a fairly high terrain rating.

[BOBBLES WORLD TOUR]

Maybe GC1KKQG and it's series. Or even better the caches around GC2YRA6.#

Not too far but worthy of your time.

[Stompy]

try http://www.geocachetrails.com

[+speakers-corner]

 

I'd like to combine my training with activities I find enjoyable, so that's why I'm here. Can anyone recommend me some good Geocaches or Geocache trails that require some pretty serious hiking to get to? Preferably with trailheads nearby to bus and/or train routes (I can't drive) and it would be great if they were in the southern parts of the UK. I don't mind two day hikes as I could get to the destination by public transport on Friday night, hike out on Saturday and hike back on Sunday to travel back Sunday evening.

 

Thanks for your help!

 

Have a look at the Purbecks, Kimmerage and Wareham, my brother has taken part in the Three Peaks Challenge and the ten tors he uses the new forest as a training area. Both could be of use for WE training.

[+The Patrician]

As well as the other suggestions......

 

The Brecon Beacons in South Wales are probably not too far from you, Pen y Fan and surrounding hills are stunning on a clear day.

 

The Lake District for a weekend, of course. Practice on Scafell!

 

Coast path walking has a lot more up-and-down than many people suspect, a recent walk along 12 miles of Pembrokeshire coast path gave about 2500 feet of ascent according to the tracklog.

 

Good luck with it all.

Edited February 13, 2013 by The Patrician

[+Oxford Stone]

I'll chip in with the Chilterns. Not massive hills but some short sharp 100-150m climbs... then down the other side and start again so you could easily do 750m of climbing in a day's walk. I'd get a train to Marlow or Henley and then get a bus to Hambleden, between the two, and head north to where Lord of the Cachers has put out about 100 caches designed to be tackled in 5 loops of about 7 miles each. But there's such a good network of paths that you can pick and choose. Someone did all 5 loops in 2 days late Dec., I see from the logs. Oh and in the middle of the loops are three rather good pubs in the villages of Fingest / Skirmett / Turville (used for Vicar of Dibley filming, and the windmill was in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang). The caches are all pretty easy but nice breathers every 300m or so!

 

Having Dartmoor letterboxed before geocaches were thought of, I'd like to go back there one day and pick up some hybrides. Get a bus to Widecombe and... I was going to say fill your boots, but with the notorious bogs on the moors that could be taken literally!

[+maccath]

Thank you everyone, there are some really useful suggestions you've given

 

try http://www.geocachetrails.com

 

Thanks for the useful site, I've already found a potential trail nearby.

 

Have a look at the Purbecks, Kimmerage and Wareham, my brother has taken part in the Three Peaks Challenge and the ten tors he uses the new forest as a training area. Both could be of use for WE training.

 

The New Forest is very close to me so it's a potential, do you know what part of the New Forest has the most hills, though? From what I remember it tends to be rather flat.

 

I'll chip in with the Chilterns. Not massive hills but some short sharp 100-150m climbs... then down the other side and start again so you could easily do 750m of climbing in a day's walk. I'd get a train to Marlow or Henley and then get a bus to Hambleden, between the two, and head north to where Lord of the Cachers has put out about 100 caches designed to be tackled in 5 loops of about 7 miles each. But there's such a good network of paths that you can pick and choose. Someone did all 5 loops in 2 days late Dec., I see from the logs. Oh and in the middle of the loops are three rather good pubs in the villages of Fingest / Skirmett / Turville (used for Vicar of Dibley filming, and the windmill was in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang). The caches are all pretty easy but nice breathers every 300m or so!

 

Having Dartmoor letterboxed before geocaches were thought of, I'd like to go back there one day and pick up some hybrides. Get a bus to Widecombe and... I was going to say fill your boots, but with the notorious bogs on the moors that could be taken literally!

 

Thanks for the advice! Actually, most of the people doing the challenge are from the Marlow area, so if we decide to do group training those suggestions would come in useful I think!

Edited February 13, 2013 by maccath

[team tisri]

The New Forest is very close to me so it's a potential, do you know what part of the New Forest has the most hills, though? From what I remember it tends to be rather flat.

 

I didn't suggest the New Forest as large parts of it are not all that well served by public transport and you said you don't have a car.

 

If you can get to somewhere around Fritham you'll find some parts are almost perfectly flat (Stony Cross was used as an airfield during WWII) and some halfway decent hills. Throw a pack on your back and load it up for extra exercise.

 

Alternatively take the bus to Bournemouth, walk along the seaside promenade to Southbourne (that bit's flat, as you'd expect) and then walk back making sure to go up and down every single zigzag between the seaside and the clifftop.

[+maccath]

The New Forest is very close to me so it's a potential, do you know what part of the New Forest has the most hills, though? From what I remember it tends to be rather flat.

 

I didn't suggest the New Forest as large parts of it are not all that well served by public transport and you said you don't have a car.

 

If you can get to somewhere around Fritham you'll find some parts are almost perfectly flat (Stony Cross was used as an airfield during WWII) and some halfway decent hills. Throw a pack on your back and load it up for extra exercise.

 

Alternatively take the bus to Bournemouth, walk along the seaside promenade to Southbourne (that bit's flat, as you'd expect) and then walk back making sure to go up and down every single zigzag between the seaside and the clifftop.

 

I went to college in the New Forest (ah, Brockenhurst!) so I am familiar with the area and the (lack of) public transport, but you can at least get trains to places like Brockenhurst, Beauleiu, Ashurst, etc. so if any of those areas happened to be particularly good then it could be worth a trip, but like I said, what I can remember of the New Forest is pretty flat, and I don't think Fritham will be easy for me to get to, at least in the winter.

 

My mum used to take me to Bournemouth beaches and I remember having to walk up a craptonne of steps to get back to the car. I don't know what beach that was at now, but I guess there is an opportunity for a bit of climbing there, thanks for the tip! One thing that always sticks with me in the south is the Jurassic Coast. I'm going to Swanage this weekend, but with a tourist friend rather than for a serious walk. I think that there probably is a bit of potential for good hikes along the south coast, I just hadn't thought that Bournemouth would be very... hill-y, but it is indeed easy to get there by bus from Salisbury.

[+Oxford Stone]

Thanks for the advice! Actually, most of the people doing the challenge are from the Marlow area, so if we decide to do group training those suggestions would come in useful I think!

 

That's great! Like I say the caches are pretty easy so you would not be breaking the rhythm of the walk by spending 20 mins looking for a magnetic nano...

[team tisri]

Bournemouth isn't particularly hilly but there are a few hills heading to and from the seaside. Then there are the zigzags that lead from the seaside promenade up to the clifftops - if you walk the promenade and every time you find a zigzag go up it and then down it, then continue along the promenade, you'll get some hills in there. Then at the Bournemouth end walk up past the Royal Bath Hotel and on up the hill - it's reasonably steep but not very long. I'm sure you could find a circular route that took you up the hill, back along to the clifftop, down one of the many routes back to the promenade and then back up the hill. It might get a little dull after a while but it would be moderately more interesting than walking up a hill only to walk right back down it again.

 

There are a few roads that lead away from the square in Bournemouth and most of them involve at least some climbing. Nothing brutal, but it's close enough to get to with an easy bus ride.

 

What you could try in Salisbury is to walk from the roundabout at the end of Exeter Street and follow the roads as if going to Odstock Hospital. There are a few inclines that way too, although to get anything like the mountains you'd need to be going up and down several times.

[+speakers-corner]

Have a look around Fordingbridge, Godshill. There is also Verwood.