OpenFell
Regional walking route · England

The Chiltern Way

367 km (228 miles), in England. The line passes 1 listed summit.

Data compiled by Ryan — sources and method

Map of the The Chiltern WayThe The Chiltern Way runs 367 kilometres through England.Bald HillPavis WoodDunstable Downs20 km
Route from OpenStreetMap (ODbL). Coastline, borders and national park boundaries from the Office for National Statistics (OGL v3.0). Summits from the Database of British & Irish Hills (CC BY 4.0).
Distance
366.9 km
In miles
228 mi
Day stages
18 at ~20 km
Typical trip
14–18 days
Countries
England
Highest ground nearby
Bald Hill 257.2 m
Listed summits within 2.5 km
3
Managed by
The Chiltern Society

About the route

A waymarked long-distance footpath in southern England

Route description as recorded in OpenStreetMap by its contributors (ODbL).

How long it really is

We measure The Chiltern Way at 366.9 km (228 miles), computed by walking the OpenStreetMap route geometry point by point. The route is tagged in OpenStreetMap as 275; where that differs from our figure, the difference is usually alternative sections, spurs, or a published distance that rounds.

No ascent in this figure

This is horizontal distance only. Our trail dataset carries no elevation profile, so we will not quote a total climb or a confident walking time — on hill routes ascent can add hours a day. A flat-ground pace gives roughly 88 h 14 min of walking for the whole route, which is a floor, not an estimate. Add your own ascent figure in the walking-time calculator for something usable.

Access rights along the way

The route stays within England, so one access regime applies along its length.

England

Conditional Right to roam: Right to roam only on mapped CRoW open access land.

Conditional Wild camping: Permission needed — except on the Dartmoor commons.

Full access rules for England

A waymarked route is a route you may walk — it does not follow that you may camp beside it, leave it, or take a dog on it. Long-distance paths cross farmland, estates and access land in turn, and byelaws and seasonal restrictions override the general position. This is general information, not legal advice. Check a specific spot with the access checker.

Summits on and beside the route

Listed hills from our hill dataset whose summit lies within 2.5 km of the line — 1 of them within 350 m, so effectively on the route itself. Distances are measured from the nearest point of the path, not from a trailhead.

Listed summits within 2.5 km of the The Chiltern Way
SummitHeightFrom pathLists
Dunstable Downs243 mon routeHistoric County TopCurrent County/UA Top
Pavis Wood244 m0.5 kmHistoric County TopCurrent County/UA Top
Bald Hill257.2 m2.4 kmHistoric County TopHuMP

The route in day stages

The Chiltern Way cut into 18 stages of roughly 20 km, measured along the line itself. These are equal-distance splits computed from the geometry, not an official itinerary — they will not always land on a village, a bunkhouse or a station, and the real day you walk should be set by where you can sleep.

This route is mapped in 32 separate pieces

OpenStreetMap does not hold The Chiltern Way as one continuous line, so the stages below run through the pieces in order of length and the joins between them are not walking distance. Treat the stage boundaries as approximate, and check the official route for the sections between them.

Day stages of the The Chiltern Way at roughly 20 km each
StageDistanceCumulativeStarts nearEnds nearFlat-ground time
120 km20 kmSU 7825 8825SU 9078 91724 h 24 min
220.2 km40.2 kmSU 9078 9172TQ 0211 98054 h 27 min
320.2 km60.4 kmTQ 0211 9805TL 0407 11814 h 27 min
420.1 km80.5 kmTL 0407 1181TL 1371 18964 h 25 min
520.3 km100.8 kmTL 1371 1896TL 0724 28224 h 28 min
620.2 km121 kmTL 0724 2822SP 9985 22104 h 27 min
720.1 km141.1 kmSP 9985 2210SP 9457 09844 h 25 min
820.7 km161.9 kmSP 9457 0984SP 8161 00544 h 33 min
920.8 km182.6 kmSP 8161 0054SU 7279 91794 h 35 min
1020.5 km203.2 kmSU 7279 9179SU 7076 88874 h 31 min
1120.2 km223.4 kmSU 7076 8887SU 7250 84454 h 27 min
1220.1 km243.5 kmSU 7250 8445SU 6341 78844 h 25 min
1320.4 km263.9 kmSU 6341 7884SU 6371 88524 h 29 min
1420.7 km284.6 kmSU 6371 8852TL 1631 25264 h 33 min
1520.3 km304.9 kmTL 1631 2526SU 8016 80614 h 28 min
1620.1 km325 kmSU 8016 8061SU 7738 80294 h 25 min
1720.3 km345.3 kmSU 7738 8029SU 9214 88964 h 28 min
1812.6 km357.9 kmSU 9214 8896SU 9196 88072 h 46 min

Positions are 8-figure (100 m) OS grid references for points on the line, computed from WGS84 coordinates. Flat-ground times are Naismith at 5 km/h with a 6 min/hour rest allowance and no ascent — add the climb in the walking-time calculator before you plan around them.

Conditions on the route

Weather at the route midpoint live

Loading forecast for the midpoint of the route…

Forecast for the midpoint of the The Chiltern Way, at MET Norway's own ground level — we hold no elevation profile for this route, so nothing here is altitude-adjusted, and conditions vary considerably end to end on a route this long. Weather data from MET Norway (CC BY 4.0).

Daylight at the midpoint today

Sunrise
—
Sunset
—
Daylight
—
Civil twilight ends
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Computed astronomically for 51.948, -0.461. Set a turnaround with the daylight safety planner.

Plan this walk

Other long-distance paths nearby

Sources for this route

  • Route geometry, name, waymark and operator: OpenStreetMap relation 23309 — © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.
  • Distance, stages, country crossings, park crossings and summit proximity: computed by OpenFell from that geometry.
  • Boundaries: Office for National Statistics (OGL v3.0). Summits: Database of British & Irish Hills v18.3 (CC BY 4.0).
  • Official route website: chilternsociety.org.uk
  • Background reading: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).

OpenStreetMap data is licensed under the Open Database Licence. Our derived trail measurements are published under the same terms — see data sources.