Eppchi one

Verified Slow Way

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I walked from Ongar to Epping.
Part of SlowWays National Park route.
Good route, although I did get lost in Gernon Bushes.
Stiles, grass,and gates, not for wheels.

Nice rural route on the edge of London, I walked as part of the National Parks Trail Challenge.

In my opinion it's best to start at Ongar and end at Epping as the public transport is much easier from Epping with the Central Line compared to the buses going to Ongar.

I walked this route from the Chipping Ongar end. Apart from a few residential streets it is all countryside and woodland making it a most enjoyable route. Mostly field edge walking or through broad woodland paths. Coming from this direction it is generally easy to follow the gpx map but there are a couple of places where it might be a bit confusing. After crossing the motorway you can turn immediately left or go straight ahead but whichever path you take gps will show you drifting off the route. In fact you need to walk straight ahead and you will find the path is on the left a bit further on and not clearly marked.
As remarked by another reviewer it is definitely a long trousers route as parts can be quite overgrown (very thistley when I walked) and although most parts of the route were dry and firm there were many indications that after wet weather they could be very muddy so I would recommend good boots in wet conditions. On the other hand if you time it right there is an abundance of blackberries and sloes that could be harvested.
Not suitable for push chairs and probably not bikes for some of the route although in places it would seem to be popular with mountain bikes judging by the tyre tracks dried into the ground. There is one place with a steep slope or broad steps which would be slippery in wet weather. Coming into Toot Hill there is a short section of road with very narrow verges but it seems to be quiet for traffic. Coming out onto the road at Stonnards Hill there are again narrow verges and quite fast traffic.
There are plenty of places to get food and drink in Chipping Ongar and a couple of pubs at points during the route though surprisingly little when you reach Epping station. One kiosk was open there and the centre of Epping is a good walk further on where there are plenty of shops.

Run this route 2 or 3 times a week, its part of the essex way, very well sign posted, little over grown at the moment in parts so would recommend trousers rather than shorts, very quiet, hardly ever see other walkers on parts of the route and a few good pubs on the route if your taking it slow
Nice mixture of forests and farmers fields
There is a bus that will take you back to the start but can be unreliable, only comes once an hour and very rarely on time.

Tested route from North Weald to Ongar and that is footpath almost all the way across fields and through woodland, except for Toot Hill where you walk a little way through the village. Need to keep an eye on the route in a few places as there are a few areas where the footpath is not well signposted (e.g. Toot Hill towards Ongar turn right at the house on the corner over a little metal bridge). Easy, accessible route with only one large uphill section.

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