Take a Hike

The Ox Drove & Vernditch Chase - 12 or 6 miles

(The pinch point in the middle is an easy point to split the route in two - the right hand circular was a shorter walk of ours which we have extended to make a decent day’s hike. If you want a shorter walk, simply slip the few minutes up the road in the centre of the route and you’re back at your car - come back another day and do part two)

This walk combines wide chalk dopwnland views from the ridge walkway of the Ox Drove with long straight roman route sections through forest paths. It’s an easy going route on welldefined paths - lots of long easy broad stretches for you to enjoy the plentiful panoramic views, combined with the cool shady sections - this is a good one for a hot day!

The path from the Ox Drove onto the Middleton Down Nature Reserve draws you down into the hidden

What I expected to be a tiny little copse beside Middle Chase Farm turned out be a beautiful curved path through a cathedral-like stand of forest.

Much of the route looks like this - according to the map, this path runs through the hedge boundary between two fields - it turned out to be an ancient green lane to Cobley Farm.

The Middleton Down Nature Reserve loop is rather unnecessary - but I do urge you to add the extra length on to see the beautiful folded valley, and the swathes of wildflower downland in the summer.

As we came down towards the road crossing at Pribdean Wood we were EATEN by horseflies - be aware if you don’t have any anti-bite spray on!

The long straight stretch of Vernditch Chase tends to be very wet - in summer there are stretches which require careful navigating in all but the best footwear, in winter it will be very messy!

**The routes we feature have always been created and walked recently by ourselves, so you know you can trust them - we aim for unpopulated routes with as little road and as many views as possible! You can always see the route and follow it yourself via the free Outdoor Active app - see all our routes here.**