Best "gravel" cycling near London?

Hello!

I've recently wacked some gravel king tyres on the road bike and want to do a bit of off roading. Last weekend I went up to Epping forest which was brilliant but am now looking for other places to shred the gnarmac. Anyone know of any good places accessible by a short train ride from London?

Ta.

Tom.

Not a full answer but to cover a bit of ground, maybe take a look at National Cycle Routes 20 from Wandsworth (Wandle Trail) or 21 from Greenwich. These give you access to North Downs Way, Surrey Hills area with very dense trails and ultimately South Downs and Brighton. Epsom is a good starting point if you want to get a train out and avoid urban sprawl.

Excellent! Thanks for the info. I'll check those out. If anyone knows any more routes I'd be interested. Thanks.

There is http://gravelmap.com/ but there aren't that many routes in the database. The biggest routes on it near London are http://gravelmap.com/route/848-forest and the two which connect to it, making a total of 9 miles. Also I haven't cycled either of those so can't say what they are like but the fact that there isn't a Google StreetView suggests it probably is indeed gravel...

👌🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

Thanks for the link to this site. Would be really good if a few more routes were uploaded. Cheers.

Richmond - Wimbledon - Richmond is not bad for a little spin

Thanks! All good shouts.

And can go from Richmond up the Thames as far as Weybridge (not sure how much is paved in the other direction), but expect it to be very busy around Richmond and Hampton Court in good weather/weekends.

I have a good Kent route. Will dig it out once I get to work.

Great! Thank you.

If you carry on to the Wey at Weybridge the towpath is pretty good to Woking and beyond (Greywell) if you hang a right under the M25 onto the Basingstoke canal. Catch a train to Hook and ride back.
https://www.strava.com/activities/646411471
If you carry straight on you can get to Guildford but not recommended after a lot of rain as the track is quite muddy and narrow in places.
https://www.strava.com/activities/733990327

That one sounds good too. I've decided to jump on a train and head to the new forest. Looks like there's some pretty decent gravel riding there. Only 1hr 30 from London too.

Thinking that jumping on a train is probably the best way to get some decent off roading as I had brilliant ride in the New Forest yesterday. So many gravel tracks in the area and feels nice and remote in parts.

Anybody know any decent gravel further afield? Thinking Swinley, Peak District, Wales etc?

Thanks.

I can't find it at all :(. I think it takes in some of Pilgrim's, and it was on someone's personal blog, but I can't find it (and never actually did it). Sorry about that.

https://www.condorcycles.com/blogs/route-club/44761025-kent-cyclo-cross-ride

or

https://www.condorcycles.com/blogs/route-club/44703617-hertfordshire-cyclo-cross

I responded earlier, but can I just check -- when you say gravel, do you literally mean that, or any unpaved tracks that are suitable for a CX bike -- i.e. not very rocky/rooty or thick horse-churned mud all year round?

These two look pretty spot on. Thanks.

Yeah, just anything unpaved and away from traffic which isn't too super muddy. Thanks.

Cool, just checking my suggestions weren't way off. Thanks for reminder about New Forest, as you say it's pretty quick to get to.

Peak District - Tissington trail, Monsal trail of Eroica fame. As based on disused train lines quite straight but interesting stops and beautiful scenery, particularly on the Monsal.

I've twice ridden to Canterbury following the Pilgrims Way as much as I can. It's a mix of road and track, probably a 50/50 split. Would happily do it again, it's a nice day out.

Guildford to Shoreham-by-sea on the old railway. You'll be sick of gravel by the end :)

https://microcosm.app/out/kF8uh
Gonna do this one tomorrow, is there a .gpx file or iOS app that runs .tcx files?