Living in east London, I’ve heard of Epping Forest many times. It’s been on my list of places to visit for ages, but I never got round to it – until recently. On a summer Sunday in August, I fancied a mini trip. Not a full day adventure, but somewhere to enjoy the nature for a few hours. I looked at Google Maps and decided it was time to finally explore Epping Forest – or at least a small section of it. It was a lovely walk and I will definitely go back there in other seasons. Here is how it went!
Getting to Epping Forest
Epping Forest, located on the outskirts of London, is pretty huge – you can get there from different directions, via car or public transport.
I took a Central line underground train from London Stratford to Loughton. The journey time was under 20 minutes. That’s quick!
From Loughton station to Epping Forest
From the station, it was a 10-15 minute walk to get to the edge of the forest. It was actually a really enjoyable walk! In my head, the east end of Central line didn’t have a great reputation. I live in Stratford, I’ve been to Ilford and Leytonstone many times, and I always assumed that the whole north-east section of London must be the same or even worse. I was wrong!
There were many cute, traditional English houses. Detached ones – that screams luxury. The area was clean and quiet.
Into the woods of Epping Forest
Once I got to the edge of the forest, I was happy to see that the path had a lot of shade. It was a hot day!
I enjoyed walking amongst the trees. The forest wasn’t as thick as I hoped, but most of the path at the start of my walk was in the shade.
I roughly chose a route based on the walking paths on Google Maps. There was one spot at the start of the route which involved crossing a road, but I assumed it would be fine. There were official trails on both sides of the road, and even a car park.
I got to that spot… and I was surprised, to say the least. There was no pedestrian crossing of any kind, and the road was busy in both directions. Frankly, it seemed insane! Why would they make official walking paths meet at a busy road without a way to safely cross the road? Imagine driving to the car park with kids or senior parents, just to find out that you need to run across a busy road in a wild place to get to the path. I will be emailing the council about that!
I almost wanted to call off the trip and just head back, as the traffic wasn’t ending. But luckily, a larger gap between the cars appeared and I decided to run across, encouraged by the fact that two other people did the same in the opposite direction.
Exploring Epping Forest
Luckily, I was now in the main section of the forest and was able to explore it without crossing any more roads. I headed towards the Lotus Pond.
On the way, I walked past a few pinned locations on Google Maps. I saw a beautiful old oak tree, and a couple of wooden sculptures of some rodents. I then discovered that there were plenty of them around the pond! Lotus Pond was really pretty. There were many birds, some flowers and tall grasses around the pond, and water lilies. I walked the full lap around the pond, spotting a lot of those cute wooden sculptures.
At that point, I wasn’t sure what to do next. I was tempted to walk back to Loughton (mainly because it would be the easiest way to get back home). However, I didn’t fancy running across that road again.
Technically, Epping Forest connects with Walthamstow Wetlands, which connect to Hackney Marshes, which connect with the Olympic Park in Stratford. In other words, it’s possible to do a very long nature walk between Stratford (where I live) and Epping Forest. I considered walking some portion of that, but there seems to be a worrying number of roads to cross, judging by Google Maps. I need to do some research before I attempt that walk.
So instead, I decided to walk towards Chingford station.
Epping Forest Visitor Centre
I headed towards Chingford station, but first, I walked past a tea room. I popped inside but didn’t decide to get anything. I was about to continue my walk, when I noticed that there was a Visitor Centre next door. I read on Google Maps that there was supposedly a nice view from the top floor.
There were toilets at the Visitor Centre and a cute gift shop, selling local honey and ice cream amongst other things. I asked the staff about the view, and they told me that the balcony was unfortunately closed. But, they said that the lodge next door was open and had a view too!
Queen Elizabeth Hunting Lodge is a cute period building. It was so nice and cold inside, on a hot day. I don’t think there was A/C. How did they build those old buildings, and why don’t they use the same techniques today?!
The view from the top floor of the lodge was indeed nice – I could see the plains of Epping Forest. Yellow, like all formerly green spaces in London after all the heatwaves.
Time to go back home
Finally, I walked to Chingford train station. The commute back home was longer than getting to Loughton – I took the overground to Hackney Central, then changed to a different overground line to get back to Stratford.
My walk was short for my standards – around 7 kilometres. There wasn’t as much shade as I hoped for, and I didn’t have time to explore more. I’ll try to go back to Epping Forest in the autumn to explore it further – it’s a great place for a walk overall!
I really liked the Lotus Pond. Such a pretty and tranquil place! The wooden rodent structures were cute too.
Running across that busy road was the only downside, and I don’t understand that design. When two official walking paths meet in the same spot, there needs to be a pedestrian crossing!
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