Circular walks in Essex: 3 loops in Epping Green

Looking for circular walks in Essex? Why not try these three loops around the village of Epping Green?

Circular walk in Essex: Epping Green featured picture showing golden fields in between 2 trees

With the lockdown restrictions lifted, we can finally get back to hiking. Still not ready to venture too far from London, I luckily get a text message from a friend who lives in Epping Green to come and hike there with him. He combined together three loops he discovered on his daily walks during lockdown to make it into a longer hike.

Whether you live locally or you are a Londoner looking to escape to the countryside after three months of lockdown, this walk is for you. Also note that you can do 1, 2 or the 3 loops, so plenty of options here.

Logistic for the Epping circular walks

Distance: 10.12 miles (16.3 km) – you can shorten it, depending on how many loops you want to do
Ascent: 108 m
Difficulty: Easy
Walking estimate: 3 hours and a half for the three loops back-to-back
How to get there: Central Line to Epping Station (last stop). Then you can either walk an extra 4 miles (6.43 km) or 8 miles (12.8km) if you walk it on the way back too, to get to Epping Green. Alternatively, you can order an Uber (approximately £10 each way)
What to bring: comfortable clothing and footwear (no trainers recommended), gaiters (especially if it has been raining during the week) snack for the break, water (2 litres recommended)

The Epping Green circular walks description

Loop 1

Hop on the Central Line and let’s go for a ride all the way to the terminus! For my part, I live in Ealing, basically the opposite, so I have to do the whole Central Line from one end to the other (approximately 1.5 hours sitting on the tube – thank God I downloaded some good podcasts for the ride). We arrive in the market town of Epping in Essex. The town is famous for its weekly market which has taken place on Mondays since 1253. If you have time to roam around the town centre, there are a number of Grade I and II listed buildings. But no time for that now as we jump into an Uber for Epping Green.

Other Walk in Essex: Audley End Estate

We arrive at Epping Green (around 10/15 minutes ride). The village is an ancient market route. It does not have any shops but has two pubs located within 50 yards of each other.

We begin our walk at the Traveller’s Friend pub and walk along the B181 for a short while. Then, we step foot onto the lush green meadows. We follow the trail all the way to the Covered Reservoir (so covered that I did not see it but my Outdooractive map shows that we walked past them).

Green meadows near the Covered Reservoir in Epping Green, Essex — Green meadows

We then get to Parndon Wood Nature Reserve and have to walk alongside the wood as the reserve was closed due to Covid. The site, recorded as a Woodland for 900 years, consists of oak trees. The reserved has been designated a Special Site of Scientific Interest. You can explore the woodlands via many trails and paths and you can also find observation hides, a conservation centre and a cafe- perfect for a family afternoon.

Parndon Wood Nature Reserve, Harlow — Parndon Wood Nature Reserve

We walk along the reserve all the way to Riden’s & Hospital Wood. There, we enter the woods and follow a very muddy path. We come face to face with a log blocking the way. I tried to step over it, but bumped my knee on it and ended up with a massive bruise. As we come out on the other side of the wood at Fairway Sports Grounds in Kingsmoor, we make a U-turn and get back onto more fields. But this time we walk alongside endless golden straw ones. We get told off by a farmer as one of us stepped onto the crops to got a selfie with the view. Nature first, selfie can wait!

Endless golden straw fields in Epping Green, Essex — Don’t step on the crops!

We continue walking alongside the fields until we reach Lodge Farm. We then turn left at the farm to get onto the “main” road, which happens to be called Lodge Farm Road, how original! Once the road makes a turn, we continue straight onto the fields all the way back to the Travellers Friend where we started.

View of the fields coming up to Lodge Farm — Coming up to Lodge Farm

You have two options here:

You can stop there, and if you chose to do so, well done you have completed one loop!
Continue and do loop 2 (and maybe loop 3)

If you choose option 2, please continue reading.

Loop 2

We continue our circular walks in Essex with a second loop. As we are back at the Travellers Friend, we, this time, walk in the opposite direction from the first loop. We enter a small path surrounded by bushes, which opens up to a broader, muddy and bumpy path behind some houses.

Narrow path behind the Travellers Friend, Epping Green — Narrow path

Green path border of trees, Epping Green, Essex — Broader path

Coming out of the path, we step foot onto more straw fields. We pass a treehouse and wonder: one, how it got there and two, how to get there, as we cannot find any ropes or ladders by the tree.

We then walk alongside Copy Wood (a bit of green after all that straw). But that does not last for long and we are back onto our lovely golden fields. We make a stop at the top of a hill for a quick snack. After 15 minutes break, we get back on our feet and continue our loop around Copy Wood.

Walking along Copy Wood, Epping Green, Essex — Walking alongside Copy Wood

At this point, you can shorten Loop 2 by continuing straight all the way back to the Travellers Friend or you can come on our third and final loop.

Loop 3

We begin at Copy Wood, where we started walking alongside the wood in our previous loop. This time, we turn right and start walking in the direction of Nabhill Grove.

Straw fields, Epping Green, Essex — Fields on the way to Nabhill Grove

At the top of our last hill, just before we start our U-turn, we come face to face with horses, who come to greet us.

We walk past Nabhill Grove and start making our way back to the pub, walking through more fields. On our way, we pass a farm where the farmer obviously has a great sense of humour!

Sign on a farm in Epping Green, Essex — Which one do you prefer?

Funny sign on a farm in Epping Green, Essex — I am personally scared of both

We finish our last loop by walking the path behind the houses we took when we began Loop 2. Our circular walks in Essex come to an end and we found ourselves back at Traveller’s Friend where we started. The pub was closed, but my friend lives locally, so I could go to his house for a well-deserved meal – lucky me! Bon appetit!