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Hampstead Heath Short Walk

Wooded heathland, swimming points, and Parliament Hill

Easy London Short

History

This is a list of previous times this walk has been done by the club (since Jan 2010). For more recent events (since April 2015), full details are shown.

Date Option Post # Weather
Thu, 07-Mar-24 Evening Walk: Hampstead Heath 8 cloudy but dry
Thu, 15-Jun-23 Evening Walk: Hampstead Heath 7 warm
Thu, 12-May-22 Evening Walk: Hampstead Heath 4 clear
Thu, 06-Jun-19 Evening Walk - Hampstead Heath 10 sunny and mild
Thu, 05-Jul-18 Evening Walk - Hampstead Heath 10 hot hot hot
Thu, 16-Jul-15 Evening Walk - Hampstead Heath 2 hot and sunny

Thursday 07-Mar-24

Stargazer
Evening Walk: Hampstead Heath (in the dark) t=short.15

Length: 7.5 km (4.7 mi)

Meet: Outside Hampstead Underground (Northern Line) at 18.30

Return: Regular underground trains from Hampstead
A classic London walk across Hampstead Heath taking in Parliament Hill, the Pools and Kenwood. The grounds of Kenwood House (on the northern boundary of the Heath and managed by English Heritage), are closed at sunset -- so we will need to bypass them on this occasion. The rest of the Heath is accessible at all times.
Hampstead Heath is a large ancient north London parkland managed by the City of London Corporation.
More information on the walk and instructions/GPX file can be found here.
Post walk refreshments can had at The Holly Bush.
Enjoy the walk!
  • Sat, 09-Mar-24

    Seven familiar faces gathered in the dark just outside Hampstead station and after making some convenience stops set off on the designated route to the heath. On the heath, the route was initially a bit muddy -- but we were soon on a series of solid or tarmac paths where we encountered regular evening walker number 8. The route around the heath was very pleasant with views far and wide and plenty of ambient light for route finding. Since the grounds of Kenwood were closed, we improvised a shortcut to join the return route at a point where they are very close. All opted for post walk refreshments at the recommended Wells Tavern. A fun night in cloudy but dry conditions.

Thursday 15-Jun-23

Stargazer
Evening Walk: Hampstead Heath t=short.15

Length: 7.5 km (4.7 mi)

Meet: Outside Hampstead Underground (Northern Line) at 18.30
Return: Regular underground trains from Hampstead
A classic London walk across Hampstead Heath taking in Parliament Hill, the Pools and Kenwood. The grounds of Kenwood House (on the northern boundary of the Heath and managed by English Heritage), are closed at sunset. The rest of the Heath is accessible at all times. As suggested in the walk report from last year, you may want to experiment by doing the route in reverse to pass through the grounds of Kenwood House earlier in the walk.
Hampstead Heath is a large ancient north London parkland managed by the City of London Corporation.
More information on the walk and instructions/GPX file can be found here.
Post walk refreshments can had at The Holly Bush.
Enjoy the walk!
  • Fri, 16-Jun-23

    Seven did this warm evening walk over Hampstead Heath. I really enjoyed it. Most went for a meal at the Flask afterwards (where I also started the walk, with a quick half).

  • Fri, 16-Jun-23

    7 warm

Thursday 12-May-22

Stargazer
Evening Walk: Hampstead Heath t=short.15

Length: 7.5 km (4.7 mi)
Meet: Outside Hampstead Underground (Northern Line) at 18.30 .
Return: Regular underground trains from Hampstead.
A classic London walk across Hampstead Heath taking in Parliament Hill, the Pools and Kenwood. The grounds of Kenwood House (on the northern boundary of the Heath and managed by English Heritage), are closed at sunset. The rest of the Heath is accessible at all times. Hampstead Heath is a large ancient north London parkland managed by the City of London Corporation. More information on the walk and instructions/GPX file can be found here .
Post walk refreshments can had at the The Holly Bush .
Enjoy the walk!
  • Fri, 13-May-22

    4 of us set off for a lovely evening stroll across Hampstead Heath. The evening was clear and the views from Parliament Hill were spectacular, with the great metropolis laid out before us. We continued past the men's bathing pool, with Highgate Village above us looking very picturesque in the evening sunshine. Unfortunately when we arrived at Kenwood shortly before 8, the gates were already locked, so we had to take a diversion.

    We ended up back on Well Walk, where 3 of us had a nice supper in the Wells Tavern.

    A pleasant evening, but the route could be adjusted to go through Kenwood earlier, perhaps by doing it in reverse.

Thursday 06-Jun-19

Thomas G
Length: 7.5 km (4.7 mi)
Ascent: 225m
Net Walking Time: 1 ¾ hours
Meet outside Hampstead Underground at 18.45 (Northern Line, Edgware Branch, Zone 2/3 boundary). Journey time is 19 mins from Bank, 16 mins from Charing X (for example).
A classic London walk across Hampstead Heath taking in Parliament Hill, the Pools and Kenwood. The grounds of Kenwood House (on the northern boundary of the Heath and managed by English Heritage), are closed at sunset. The rest of the Heath is accessible at all times. Hampstead Heath is a large ancient north London parkland managed by the City of London Corporation.
For walk directions, map, height profile, photos and gpx/kml files click here.
Tea: The Holly Bush . T=short.15
  • Thu, 06-Jun-19

    10 sunny and mild

    Very good day for this walk, with extremely fine views of London Town below from the various viewpoints. We stuck broadly to the GPX route but managed to get ourselves locked in to the Kenwood House fenced area (walking too slowly, clearly), so had to climb over a spiky metal fence, else all went fine. Reached the Holly Bush pub just before 9 o'clock. Everyone stayed for at least one drink.

Thursday 05-Jul-18

Thomas G
Length: 7.5 km (4.7 mi)
Ascent: 225m
Net Walking Time: 1 ¾ hours
Meet outside Hampstead Underground at 18.45 (Northern Line, Edgware Branch, Zone 2/3 boundary).
A classic London walk across Hampstead Heath taking in Parliament Hill, the Pools and Kenwood. The grounds of Kenwood House (on the northern boundary of the Heath and managed by English Heritage), are closed at sunset. The rest of the Heath is accessible at all times.
Hampstead Heath is a large ancient north London parkland managed by the City of London Corporation.
For walk directions, map, height profile, photos and gpx/kml files click here .
Tea: The Holly Bush . T=short.15
  • Karen
    Fri, 06-Jul-18

    10 hot hot hot

    Relieved to get outside after a torturous Northern Line journey to Hampstead. 9 others were waiting and off we set. We meandered through the Heath, chatting and enjoying the sunshine. We were thwarted from entering the grounds of Kenwood House as an event was taking place there. (House Festival - not quite clear from their website what it was all about. Organised by the Soho House group and Youtube with proceeds going to Kenwood House and Unicef. Nile Rodgers & Chic were the headline act.)

    6 of us decided to stop at the Spaniards Inn for a drink to take advantage of their outdoor space. A couple of others who were a bit ahead made their way to the Holly Bush. We were reunited later near the station. A few of us grabbed an ice cream for the journey from the gelateria someone had spotted on Flask Lane at the beginning of the walk.

    Nice evening, as always.

Thursday 16-Jul-15

DAC
Hampstead Heath
Distance: 7km
Meet 19:15 prompt outside Waterstones, 68-69 Hampstead High Street. This is a self-led walk across Hampstead Heath, Destination Holly Bush, 22 Holly Mount. NW3 6SG. T=short.15
  • Sun, 12-Jul-15

    Intend going.

  • Wed, 15-Jul-15

    Are there any directions for this "self-led" walk? The OS Map shows a map of the Heath with an icon on the wrong station (Hampstead Heath overground) but no route. I realise that in practice DAC will show us the way but a rough idea of the route might help any latecomers to catch up.

  • Wed, 15-Jul-15

    PS. Are the evening walks moving to Thursday now, or is this just a one-off?

  • Wed, 15-Jul-15

    Sorry, ignore first comment. Not sure what happened - the page didn't seem to display fully but it's OK now.

  • Thu, 16-Jul-15

    PS. Are the evening walks moving to Thursday now, or is this just a one-off?

    Not really, (some) could not make Wednesday and the forecast better. Will also work around future tube strikes. Next one planned for Wed 5th August.

  • Mon, 20-Jul-15

    2 hot and sunny Enjoyable walk across the heath.