6 Great Colchester Walks
Photo © PAUL FARMER (cc-by-sa/2.0)
Do you love walking? There are some wonderful walks in Essex ready to be discovered. Here are 6 of our top places to walk in and around Colchester.
Highwoods Country Park
1 mile and 2.75 miles
This is a lovely short family-friendly stroll around the pretty Highwoods Country Park. It is a nice varied walk for such a short walk as well, with beautiful woodland, open parkland and a stroll around the lake all packed in.
We also have a second route is a longer walking loop that explores most of the Highwoods county park. It of course enjoys lots of woodland walking, but also visits the lake and you can wander through some pretty open parkland.
Photo © Paul Franks (cc-by-sa/2.0)
Dedham
1.75 miles to 7.75 miles
Dedham Vale is a Beautiful Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty that offers walkers glorious scenery, diverse wildlife and is famous as the setting for many of John Constable's paintings. We have three walks near the village of Dedham ranging from a lovely family-friendly stroll across beautiful countryside and alongside the River Stour, through to longer walks that take you through the pretty village of Dedham itself with it's lovely pubs and on-route you can visit the famous Constable painting viewpoint. You can see more about these Dedham walks and one of the route maps here.
Photo © Mr James D (cc-by-sa/2.0)
Fordham
0.5 miles to 8.75 miles
You are spoilt for choice in Fordham, we have 4 routes from this location for you to enjoy. The first is a simple and short family-friendly circular stroll (0,5 miles) around some woodland in the Fordham Hall Estate. Great for a quick dog walk.
The second is a longer walk (3.75 miles) around the pretty Fordham Hall Estate. You can expect nice open countryside, some woodland walking and a small stretch of walking alongside the River Colne. The walk also touches on the village of Fordstreet and there is a short diversion on the map to get to a lovely pub if you want to make this a wonderful pub walk day out. There are some mild ascents to tackle on this walk as you walk around the estate.
The third route (5.5 miles) is basically an extension to the second route and the extra distance is made up of more countryside walking and a walk through the pretty Hillhouse Woods. The short diversion on the south west edge of the route is where you'll find a lovely pub in Fordstreet! There are some mild ascents to tackle on this walk.
This is the longest route (8.75 miles) and is a truly epic and varied adventure around the Fordham Estate and lovely surrounding countryside. It enjoys everything you get in the third route, but then heads much further west with a long stretch of walking alongside the winding River Colne. There are some mild ascents on this walk, and if you require refreshments to help tackle these, there is a lovely pub about half way around the route in Fordstreet.
Photo © Mr James D (cc-by-sa/2.0)
Gosbecks Park
0.75 miles to 5 miles
We have 3 walks here. The first is a nice and simple family-friendly stroll that doesn't go into Gosbecks Park (that's the second route), but instead heads in the other direction into the Westlands Country Park where you'll find a great play park for the kids.
The second route is also a short family-friendly walk around the historical Gosbecks Archaeological Park. On face value this is just a pleasant enough field, but in reality the site is one of the most significant Iron Age and Roman sites in the country that includes the remains of one of the 5 largest Roman Theatres in Britain.
The third route is a longer walking loop that enjoys the best of the two other walks in one route. As well as visiting Westlands Country Park and the Gosbeck Archaeological Park, it also heads out to the south for a pleasant stroll around some open countryside and woodland.
Photo © Mr James D (cc-by-sa/2.0)
Wivenhoe
1 mile to 3.5 miles
We have 3 routes from Wivenhoe. The first is a lovely short family-friendly stroll from the town of Wivenhoe. The route is mainly riverside with a walk alongside the quay and River Colne, but it also walks through the Ferry marsh Nature Reserve and also through a short section of the Wivenhoe Woods. There are plenty of refreshment options on the route in the town.
The second route (2.75 miles) is basically an extension of the first route that enjoys a much longer stretch of walking alongside the River Colne, and then also enjoys a majestic stroll through the Wivenhoe Woods, making this a lovely varied walk. There are plenty of pubs in the town if you want to make this a thoroughly enjoyable pub walk.
The third slightly longer route (3.5 miles) heads in the opposite direction to the other two routes. It takes you east out of Wivenhoe and includes the River Colne estuary, open countryside, lanes and lovely views. There is some road walking on this route and if you fancy a drink on the quayside, why not pop into the Rose and Crown pub.
Photo © Robert Edwards (cc-by-sa/2.0)
Friday Woods
4.25 miles
This is a a wonderful walk around the beautiful Friday Woods which is an area of high nature conservation interest. The woods is an ancient woodland, modified in places with plantations of conifers and sweet chestnut. You can also expect to see lots of butterflies and bluebells if you visit this walk at the right time of year.
Let our app guide you around these walks. It’s so easy to use and shows your position on the route map as you walk.
