Route Overview

London Outer Orbital Path (LOOP)

The London Loop, one of the Mayor of London's key routes, almost completely encircles Greater London, covering a total distance of around 240km (150ml). It has been described as 'the M25 for walkers', although it rarely comes anywhere near the motorway. The route stays as much as possible within Greater London, to facilitate use of travelcards, but it has proved necessary to venture outside in places. The only gap in the circuit is between Sections 24 at Purfleet and 1 at Erith, where the River Thames provides a substantial barrier of almost a kilometre (half a mile) with no convenient crossing point.

The idea was put forward at a meeting of the London Walking Forum in the early 1990s. After a competition, the route was formally named the London Outer Orbital Path, and although you may sometimes see this version, or as initials LOOP, the route is popularly known and shown on Ordnance Survey maps as the London Loop.

The first of the 24 sections (Section 5) was opened on 3 May 1996, with a ceremony on Farthing Downs and the route became fully walkable in 2001 with the publication of the Aurum Press guidebook.

The following pages describe each section individually. For convenience, here is a complete list of the sections and approximate distances:

Distance walking each Section

Section:	km:	ml:
1 (Erith Riverside to Old Bexley Village)	13.5	8.4
2 (Old Bexley Village to Jubilee Country Park)	11.5	7.1
3 (Jubilee Country Park, Bromley to West Wickham Common, Bromley)	15.5	9.6
4 (West Wickham Common, Bromley to Hamsey Green, Croydon)	14.5 km	9
5 (Hamsey Green, Croydon to Coulsdon South Station, Croydon)	9.6	6
6 (Couldson South Station, Croydon to Banstead Downs, Banstead)	7.2	4.5
7 (Banstead Downs, Banstead to Bourne Hall Park, Ewell)	6.4	4
8 (Bourne Hall Park, Ewell to Kingston upon Thames)	11.7	7.3
9 (Kingston upon Thames to Hatton Cross)	13.6	8.5
10 (Hatton Cross to Hayes & Harlington)	6.1	3.8
11 (Hayes & Harlington to Uxbridge)	12.5	7.8
12 (Uxbridge to Harefield West)	7.2	4.5
13 (Harefield West to Moor Park)	7.7	4.8
14 (Moor Park to Hatch End)	6.1	3.8
15 (Hatch End to Elstree)	13.3	8.3
16 (Elstree to Cockfosters)	16.8	10.4
17 (Cockfosters to Enfield Lock)	14.7	9.1
18 (Enfield Lock to Chingford)	6.5	4
19 (Chingford to Chigwell)	6.4	4
20 (Chigwell to Havering-atte-Bower)	9.6	6
21 (Havering-atte-Bower to Harold Wood)	6.9	4.3
22 (Harold Wood to Upminster Bridge)	6.9	4.3
23 (Upminster Bridge to Rainham)	6.4	4
24 (Rainham to Purfleet)	9	5

Boroughs which the route passes through:

Barking and Dagenham
Barnet
Bexley
Bromley
Croydon
Enfield
Harrow
Havering
Hillingdon
Hounslow
Kingston upon Thames
Redbridge
Richmond upon Thames
Sutton
Waltham Forest

Interesting places on or near the route:

Banstead Downs
Barnet
Bentley Priory Open Space
Bexley Village
Black Jack's Mill and Lock & Grand Union Canal
Colne Valley Regional Park
Enfield Lock/King George's Reservoir
Hainhault Forest Country Park
Hampton Court and Bushy Park
Hounslow Heath
Ingrebourne River
Kenley
Keston
Lee Valley Regional Park
The Marshes

Signage:

The route is indicated on the ground by a variety of signs and waymarks. In countryside locations they consist mostly of a simple white disc, mounted on wooden posts and containing a directional arrow with the flying kestrel logo in blue and text in green. (A word of warning: the arrow's direction may not be clear until you are close up. It is easy to assume that it points ahead, but it may turn - look closely before continuing.) In urban streets these are replaced by larger aluminium signs strapped to lampposts and other street furniture, and additionally carry a walking man symbol. On link routes to stations the word 'link' is incorporated into the logo. At major focal points you will also meet tall green and white signposts that give distances to three points in either direction. Some of these locations may also have the big, round-topped information boards.

Further information:

An excellent guidebook to the whole route, written by David Sharp and with 1:25,000 scale Ordnance Survey maps, is published by Aurum Press (ISBN 1-85410-759-3, £12.99). Note that in this book the route is divided into 15 sections by combining some of those described here. The Ordnance Survey is marking the London Loop route on its Explorer maps as new editions are published.

In addition, individual leaflets for each section are available or planned, and can be obtained from relevant local authority outlets such as libraries or tourist information centres.

Visit the Totally London website to watch a video of a walk on the Loop from Cockfosters to Enfield Chase.

 

Completed a route ? Why not celebrate your achievement by ordering a completion certificate from info@walklondon.org.uk