An ancient royal forest at the end of the Overground line: 2,500 hectares of beech, hornbeam and oak, many of them centuries-old pollards with gnarled, many-stemmed crowns. Walk from a Tudor hunting lodge to a hilltop pub through the most atmospheric woods near London.
Epping Forest was a royal hunting ground for centuries, and nearly vanished under enclosure before the City of London Corporation bought it and opened it to the public in 1878. It has been London's forest ever since.
Its trees are its glory. For generations, commoners cut the branches of beech and hornbeam above the reach of grazing animals, and the trees regrew as pollards, with a short thick trunk and a crown of many stems. Long left uncut, they have grown into strange, cathedral-like shapes. In autumn the beech woods turn copper; in late April, bluebells carpet the ground.
This walk starts by Queen Elizabeth's Hunting Lodge, a Tudor timber-framed grandstand built for royal hunts, crosses Chingford Plain to the lake of Connaught Water, and wanders north through the woods to High Beach, with its visitor centre, tea hut and pub.
The forest is a maze of tracks with few signs. Carry a map or offline app.
From Chingford station walk up Station Road to Queen Elizabeth's Hunting Lodge, a three-storey Tudor timber building with free entry and a view over Chingford Plain.
Cross the open plain to Connaught Water, a lake with islands and wildfowl, and walk round its shore.
Head north along the forest ridge through some of the finest old beech and hornbeam pollards, past ponds and earthworks.
High Beach has the forest's visitor centre, a tea hut beloved of bikers and walkers, and the King's Oak pub. Views open west over the Lea valley.
Return through the woods on a different track to Chingford, or continue north towards Loughton station on the Central line.
Chingford is the end of an Overground line from Liverpool Street, about 25 minutes. Loughton and Theydon Bois on the Central line give access to the northern forest.
Signs are scarce and the tracks branch constantly. Download an offline map and note landmarks; it is easy to walk in circles.
Many of the old pollards are fragile and protected. Don't climb them, pick fungi or trample the bluebells.
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Parliament Hill's skyline view, Kenwood and the ponds.
London's two circular walks, a section at a time.
The Tamsin Trail round London's largest royal park.
Beechwoods and the Coombe Hill monument.
Stepping stones, chalk slopes and a vineyard lunch.
Narrowboats from Little Venice to Camden Lock.
Wikimedia Commons photographs are used under their Creative Commons licences.
