Walks near Braintree by train
Stations: Braintree Freeport · Braintree
MapA day hike in the countryside is just a simple train journey away — explore the most charmingly located railway stations near Braintree and plan your next day of green.
Alternatively, view walks directly from Braintree.
Kelvedon Circular via Grange Barn (Essex)
30 minutes from Braintree Freeport, with one change.
Gentle valley, river stretches, country lanes, green lanes, field boundaries, rolling Essex countryside, fields and woods.
Grange Barn (National Trust)
Time: 6h30 (5h walking, 1h30 lunch)
Warnings: Can be muddy.
Walk details: the Saturday Walkers Club (tips, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).
Wivenhoe Circular via Wivenhoe (Essex)
45 minutes from Braintree Freeport, with one change.
River estuary mudflats, sea wall paths, woodland, water meadows, saltmarshes, farmland and quaint riverside villages.
Wivenhoe
Time: 6h (4h30 walking, 1h30 lunch)
Warnings: Check ferry timetable.
Walk details: the Saturday Walkers Club (tips, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).
Manningtree Circular via Parish Church of Stratford St Mary (Essex)
45 minutes from Braintree Freeport, with one change.
River valley, water meadows, arable fields, light woodland, estuary embankment, quaint villages and Constable-painted landscapes.
Time: 6h30 (5h walking, 1h30 lunch)
Warnings: Can flood after rain.
Walk details: the Saturday Walkers Club (tips, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).
Rayleigh Circular via Rayleigh Mount (Essex)
1 hour from Braintree Freeport, with one change.
A heritage trail from the station around the historic town of Rayleigh, whose origins predate Saxon times — its name means 'a clearing of deer', it appears in the Domesday Book of 1086, and by 1222 its forests were royal hunting grounds. Takes in Rayleigh Mount and the parish church.
Rayleigh Mount (National Trust)
Walk details: Essex & South Suffolk Community Rail Partnership (local insights).
Ingatestone to Battlesbridge (Essex)
30 minutes direct from Braintree Freeport.
Wid Valley fields, riverside paths, cattle farm estate, bluebell woods, tree-lined tracks, open fields with far views and Crouch Valley finish.
Time: 7h (5h30 walking, 1h30 lunch)
Warnings: Can be muddy.
Walk details: the Saturday Walkers Club (tips, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).
Marks Tey to Chappel and Wakes Colne (Essex)
30 minutes from Braintree Freeport, with one change.
A walk across the high plateau of north-east Essex with sweeping views over the valleys of the River Colne and Roman River, passing beneath the imposing Chappel Viaduct to finish at the beautifully restored Chappel station, home of the East Anglian Railway Museum.
Chappel Viaduct
East Anglian Railway Museum
Time: 3h30 (2h walking, 1h30 lunch)
Warnings: Easy walking but can be muddy.
Walk details: Essex & South Suffolk Community Rail Partnership (local insights).
Wickford to Battlesbridge (Essex)
1 hour from Braintree Freeport, with one change.
Rolling grassy fields, quiet lanes, scattered woods, reservoir nature reserve, river valley and tidal mudflats.
Time: 6h (4h30 walking, 1h30 lunch)
Warnings: Can be muddy.
Walk details: the Saturday Walkers Club (tips, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).
Epping to Ingatestone (Essex)
30 minutes direct from Braintree Freeport.
Mildly undulating Essex countryside, ancient woods, arable fields, historic villages, old churches, manor houses and London Clay subsoil.
Time: 7h30 (6h walking, 1h30 lunch)
Warnings: Can be muddy.
Walk details: the Saturday Walkers Club (tips, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).
Chelmsford to Wickford (Essex)
30 minutes direct from Braintree Freeport.
Recommended: Beautiful buildings and churches and amazing woodlands. A largely green route from central Chelmsford out through Galleywood, with clear, well-signposted paths through woodlands and farmers' fields and plus a stretch through the village of Stock. Can be combined with onward routes heading down to the coast.
Woodland: a fifth under tree cover.
Time: 6h30 (5h walking, 1h30 lunch)
Warnings: Follows a busy road for a sixth of the walk.
Walk details: Slow Ways.
Rayleigh to Leigh-on-Sea (Essex)
1 hour from Braintree Freeport, with one change.
Recommended: The views from Leigh on Sea looking out to the sea are beautiful. Quiet woodlands, farm paths, horse yards and pretty residential areas and passing through a nature reserve before reaching the coast at Leigh-on-Sea. Includes a safer crossing of the A127. The route passes through a nature reserve near Hadleigh and goes past a windmill.
Rayleigh Mount (National Trust)
Time: 3h30 (2h walking, 1h30 lunch)
Walk details: Slow Ways.
White Notley to Marks Tey (Essex)
6 minutes direct from Braintree Freeport.
Beautiful. Field paths with street sections at either end and flat and easy-going.
Paycocke's House and Garden (National Trust; 3h30 in)
Grange Barn (National Trust; 3h45 in)
Time: 7h30 (6h walking, 1h30 lunch)
Walk details: Railwalks.
Chelmsford to South Woodham Ferrers (Essex)
30 minutes direct from Braintree Freeport.
A good route with lots of field walking, on marked footpaths and bridleways with some road walking and starting along the Chelmer navigation and passing around the south of an RHS garden on a charming footpath. Care needed where verges are limited; some field sections likely very muddy in winter. Passes a pedestrian entrance to RHS Hyde Hall, where a short diversion reaches the Clover Cafe (outside the ticketed area).
Time: 6h (4h30 walking, 1h30 lunch)
1 lunch spot: the Crown
Warnings: Crossing the A1060 between the Water Works and Sandon needs care as the road can be busy with fast traffic; a stretch of road walking on Crephedge Lane has very little verge until pavement is reached; field sections can be very muddy in winter.
Walk details: Slow Ways.