Walks from Slough

Flat urban start, parkland, deer park, historic royal landscape, ornamental gardens and lake.

Time: 4h

Walk details: the Saturday Walkers Club (tips, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).

Recommended: A beautiful, mostly traffic-free route via Bray, Dorney and the Jubilee River, leaving Maidenhead on green paths through Braywick Nature Reserve, crossing the Thames on the Summerleaze footbridge, passing Dorney Lake, then following the Jubilee River on a flat, well-maintained cycle path with lakes and bird hides and before a final busy-road stretch into Slough. Mostly good path; can get muddy in Braywick Park and along the river after rain. Passes Dorney Lake, a venue for the 2012 Olympic Games; carry refreshments as options are limited between Bray and Slough.

Time: 3h30–6h30

Lunch: Two refreshment options at Dorney mid-way: a garden centre cafe and the Palmer Arms pub.

Warnings: A brief section joins the road with no segregated footpath (quiet). The final stretch along Windsor Road into Slough is busy and a bit unpleasant but safe. The Jubilee River path is rugged and can get very muddy after rain, with little shade.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

Gorgeous nature reserves and rural estates. A varied route taking in nature reserves and rural estates alongside roads, former tips and unusual edge-land spaces. Stiles, narrow paths, broken gates and mud and deep puddles; Stoke Common is boggy either side of the path. Some grassland sections with grazing livestock. Passes through Stoke Common nature reserve (boggy, with a Scandinavian feel) and Bulstrode Park, plus Gerrards Cross Common. A road with pavement passes close to shops in Stoke Poges.

Time: 3h–6h

Lunch: Shops close to the route in Stoke Poges.

Warnings: Follows a busy road for a quarter of the walk. The B416 out of Slough is busy, with a pavement that becomes narrow and close to traffic. Crossing a busy road later, plus a long stretch beside a busy road with a narrow path against a wall to enter Slough. Mud and deep puddles persist even in dry spells; fields with cows.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

The woods (Burnham Beeches and Egypt Woods) were stunning. A largely urban or semi-urban route between two towns, with a reasonable amount of greenery through woods and parkland. A significant amount of traffic-free tarmac, plus kissing gates and stiles and some very uneven terrain. Passes through Burnham Beeches and Egypt Woods, Farnham Park (the national baseball and softball centre) and Slough's Salt Hill, Godolphin and Baylis parks. Near the hamlet of Egypt.

Woodland: a quarter under tree cover.

Time: 4h–8h30

Warnings: Some sections involve walking in the road. A short stretch at the top of Burnham Beeches needs care during the school run or rush hour. Some on-road sections were quiet on a Sunday but may be busier at other times.

Walk details: Slow Ways.