This walk includes a world famous museum, a magnificent village hall, a few follies and extensive views.

Distance: 4.2 miles (Allow 2 hours)

Start : The Forge car park, High Street, Tring HP23 5AG

Access Information: Stile free easy walking on paths and lanes with one gradual climb

Refreshments: Pubs and cafés in Tring

Route

Turn right out of the car park along the High Street and take the second left up Akeman Street to the top.

Waypoint 1 – Turn right, left along Hastoe Lane, go under the flyover and right on the concrete track signposted for Stubbings Wood.

Waypoint 2 – Go through the gate and continue straight ahead, past the Battcock Wood noticeboard, for 180m to a path junction. Bear left uphill to the right of a hedgerow. Continue uphill between the fences, along the edge of a wood for 300m and bear right into the wood to a path junction.

Waypoint 3 – Turn left uphill for 130m to the next junction. Ignore the path on the left and continue uphill for 300m to a further junction. Fork right and follow the main path until it eventually drops down a set of steps to a major track.

Waypoint 4 – Turn left up past the wooden barrier and bear left along the stony track to a road junction. Turn left and, at the bend, continue straight ahead into Church Lane.  Walk past the village hall and continue to the junction with Marlin Hill.

Waypoint 5 – Turn left uphill towards Tring for 200m and right into Tring Park. Walk along the wide track for a mile and, where the Ridgeway turns right, stay ahead down to a white building – the Summer House.

Waypoint 6 – Follow the path as it bends left downhill past The Obelisk to gate on the right at the bottom. Go through, turn right across the open area and take the footbridge over the A41. Follow the wide surfaced path and turn left through a gate into the car park.

Waypoint 7 – Bear right along the edge of the car park and turn right over a bridge to a road. Turn left and immediately right down Akeman Street to the High Street. Turn right to return to the car park.

Points of Interest

Tring is where the Roman Akeman Street meets the ancient Icknield Way. Most famous resident was Lionel Walter Rothschild.

A Natural History Museum was built by Rothschild as a private zoological museum.

B Stubbings Wood is a Site of Special Scientific Interest.

C Hastoe Village is near the highest point in Hertfordshire, standing at just over 800ft.

D The Ridgeway and Tring Park: The Ridgeway has been described as Britain’s oldest road. Tring Park is managed by the Woodland Trust.

E The Summer House and obelisk: Both thought to have been designed by James Gibbs, famous for St Martins in the Fields.

This walk was produced in partnership between the Chiltern Society and The Chilterns Natural Landscape and updated in 2025.