WARNING: New restrictions on cycling in Windsor Great Park
It appears (see comments below) that some parts of the route are now closed to cycling, following new restrictions introduced by the Crown Estates during the Covid-19 pandemic – or they may be permanent, it’s hard to tell.
I plan to revise this route, if possible, but I need some local help to identify where the new restrictions are, and what would be the best workarounds / detours. Not an easy task given the busy roads surrounding the park. If you can help, please get in touch. In the meantime, if attempting this route, be prepared to improvise. Not much more I can do about it at this point, until I have clear information on the situation on the ground. Thanks!
Map (zoom in for more detail)
Download file for GPSDirections and GPX
Route directions PDF (right click to download)
GPX file (right click to download)
we did this route today and it was lovely. Savill Gardens were beautiful, views from Windsor Park were stunning, the RAF memorial was moving and splendid with a great view across the Thames, and was my personal highlight. We had a pleasant lunch at (I think) the Fox and Hounds – not the cheapest, but huge, plus crisps, plus salad.
Train was tricky for us so we travelled by car and did it anti clockwise from Savill Gardens – save £6 by not parking inside the boundary of Savill Gardens, but instead park diagonally to the road on one of the small approach roads – Wick Lane was one, I think. Of course, this meant we had to cycle UP to the RAF memorial, but it was worth it!
I love this book – we’re doing the Gravesend ride in Sept, using the train this time.
Our favourite route so far. We’re travelling by car, so tend to start the routes at different places from those suggested in the book, which means we’ve had to plan where to park in advance. For this route, we suggest starting at the RAF Memorial, as there’s a free car park very close, along Coopers Hill Lane. This meant we spent the first half hour looking around the memorial before we got cycling! The views from the top of the tower are stunning, and today’s clear skies meant that we had great views as far as the eye could see, looking over to the right to see the Shard, Canary Wharf and all the tall buildings in the City. We were also able to see the famous arch at Wembley Stadium. We must admit to being unaware of the existence of this memorial to the many who gave their lives during WW2, and found it to be a most inspiring place, well worth a visit.
The ride around Windsor Great Park revealed so many different and fascinating scenes; we’d never seen a polo ground before, so to find ourselves at Guards Polo Club was a real treat – to think how many ‘Royals’ have passed over those hallowed turfs…. It was also particularly exciting when we arrived at the cutting, revealing the uninterrupted view to the left, of Windsor Castle. What a shame that the path is only open to pedestrians – we felt so tempted to freewheel all the way to the Castle, but resisted for fear of being locked up inside when we arrived there!
On leaving the park at Bishopsgate Road, we stopped off immediately at the Fox & Hounds, which we would thoroughly recommend, either for drinks, or lunch – they have a varied menu, which didn’t seem over-priced, bearing in mind its location.
What a great way to end our week of cycling!
Our first ride from the Lost Lanes book, very easy and hugely enjoyable with lots to see all along the route.
We started from Egham using the Library car park which is free on Sundays.
We were pleased we chose to ride the route clockwise (as per the directions), that way you do the main climb up Prune Hill at the start of the day and ride the steepish path from the RAF memorial downhill at the very end of the ride.
It also allowed for a well earned pint and roast pork bap at the Fox and Hounds which is just outside the park gates a few minutes before reaching the RAF memorial.
Looking forward to our next Lost Lanes ride.
We did this route yesterday and had an absolutely glorious day. Thank you to the previous reviewer about free parking at Coopers Hill Carpark, amazingly still free in this day and age. most of other local carparks now £6 for over 4 hours.Wanted to train but involved 3 changes. Started day by visiting RAF memorial, this is so moving and with wonderful views over Runnymede. Then we followed map to Savill gardens and started from there.So much to see and reasonably level, I had to walk a few times. We got a bit lost and ended going wrong at the polo fields but that was our fault not following route properly at 13.2. But it just meant we passed the long walk on our right and then again on our left on the way back. when we realised.
Welcome dinner at Fox and Hounds. This has taken us a year to finaly do so now to sort out where to go for the next one.
My wife and I did this route on the Sunday of the August Bank Holiday and we have a fantastic afternoon cycling around the park. All was going well until we got to Deer Park, which due to Covid is not open to cyclists. We were advised that taking the lane by the side of Deer Park and taking a left turn, followed by another left turn would take us around it. We then picked up the route and onto the Fox and Hounds pub which was far too tempting to resist.
We really appreciated the advice on this page of parking at Egham Library which was free and almost empty.
Today was an exceedingly lovely day, with clear skies and lots of sunlight, but not too much heat yet. Since I’m just starting out biking, I was limited to the easy routes, but in my mind the Windsor Great Park was the perfect choice anyway.
I wasn’t wrong, but sadly most of the attractions are now closed off from cyclists. A family of riders that happened to arrive at the blockade at the same time that I did was very frustrated and went back to their car mumbling angry words, but I managed to find my way to a parallel highway and eventually was able to merge back into the route. I was even able to take a picture of the Roman ruins from the outside of the park, but couldn’t see the waterfall, sadly. Only the totem was still accessible.
The Deer Park was also still closed, so I had to take the workaround Martin mentioned (which is a bit of a backtrack and my GPS kept complaining that I was going in the wrong direction). As I started my ride late, I didn’t have time to stop by the Fox and Hounds, but it was really tempting. Overall, it was still a great day and I regret nothing, though next time I’ll just use my feet. Cyclists are really not welcome anymore. The book needs updating.
Hi André, I’m saddened to hear of these new restrictions on cycling in Windsor Great Park. Do you have some more information? Are they permanent or do you get the sense they’re covid-19 related? If I have a clear idea of where they are then hopefully it will be possible to amend the route from the book and publish it here, so other readers can use it. Thanks.
My mistake for not reading the comments before I came today, but yeah the anti-cycle signage looks pretty permanent. I wouldn’t have minded so much if it wasn’t for the fact it said “no pushing” so you can’t even get off and push your bike through. I really don’t understand the anti-bike mentality of that. For a part I went on the parallel main road which isn’t the most pleasant as it’s full of huge speeding SUV’s that inhabit that area. Really disappointing decision by the park
The new permanent closure means that it is no longer possible to cycle in the deer park between the sets of gates which are situated near the 74 spot height just by Cookes Hill and then at the junction on the map to the north of the wording for Richardson’s Lawn. It means you can no longer cycle or even walk your cycle in front of the statue overlooking the Long Walk with the castle at the far end. Other routes. Otherwise the specified route is open but with lots of signage warning cyclists to behave, nothing about sharing the space sensibly.
There is an update from the Park authorities here https://www.windsorgreatpark.co.uk/en/activities/cycling-rollerblading that explains changes to cycle access. A map id also linked from that page which may help.
I did this at the weekend (I didn’t read this page first!) After stopping for lunch, I left the route at the main visitor centre just before the path is closed to bikes (even for pushing?!) and took the A30 and then the A329 and then skirted round back on to the route, though I realised afterwards I should have gone on a bit further joining at Blacknest gate. As it was, I pushed my bike and realised, when I passed a sign at the end, I had been breaking the rules for a hundred yards (I did hear a child say “Daddy, that man should not be pushing his bike” of oh dear! ). For the Deer park I doubled back on myself. The meandering route can be seen here: https://my.viewranger.com/track/details/MjE3MjE4MTE=
The main issue is the Lake path on the south side being closed as the road route, I took, is less than ideal. other than that, it was nice to get out on a sunny winters day after being locked away with Covid for 10 days.
Great day out (Friday 28/6/24) however comments from Andre and others still true – no cycling from Virginia water gate/cafe south past cascades etc., (and no pushing – why ???!) and deer park closed still to cyclists – the road diversion south of Virginia Water on A30 and A329 to Blacknest gate is very unpleasant – not for young families or the nervous – super steak baguette and chips at the The Fox and Hounds ! Will try more lost lane routes soon 😉
Hi, I got your book for Christmas and look forward to cycling in some new areas. This ride is in my backyard as I live in Egham. The restrictions are still in place through the deer park and by the lake so a circular route is no longer possible, but I’d be happy to devise a new route for you which works with a series of loops from a hub. You could also consider including the new path through Runnymede by the Thames which now has some interesting monuments for Magna Carta. Let me know if you’d like some help.