Berkhamsted to Beacon Hill

A lovely scenic route requiring 2.5 hours saddle time but there are a couple of shortcuts which will shorten it a little and remove one challenging climb.

This ride is a mix of canals, lakes and Ashridge forest. It 90% off road with all the hills in the second half after Ivanhoe. The first short cut misses out the Wendover arm of the canal and one of the Marsworth lakes and saves about 2 miles. (Points 1 to 2 on the map)

At Pitstone you could do a detour to see the very fine restored windmill.(Free)

The route goes around Ivanhoe Beacon (NT), but if you are feeling energetic you could cycle up it – although strictly speaking it is a footpath so you shouldn’t. Shortly afterwards you are off road along Dunscombe Terrace into the Ashridge estate – a great track all the way to the Bridgwater Monument (beautiful colours in the autumn time!).

The route then drops down to the pretty village of Aldbury, with a steep climb back, but if you have had enough hills there is a shortcut shown from point 3 to 4 which misses out Aldbury.

The final section is a lovely route through Ashridge forest back to Berkhamsted