Walks you can reach from Upminster by train

Hilly Essex countryside, ancient and modern woods, flower-rich meadows, farmland, panoramic Thames Estuary views and conservation village.

Time: 6h30 (5h walking, 1h30 lunch)

Warnings: Can be muddy.

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

Hilly woodland, narrow grassy paths, open estuary waterscape, wide flat creek-side track and gentrifying seaside town.

Time: 5h30 (4h walking, 1h30 lunch)

Warnings: Can be muddy.

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

Flat Thames Estuary coast path, riverside sea wall, wild flower meadows, salt marsh views, former landfill landscape and brief inland section.

Time: 5h (3h30 walking, 1h30 lunch)

Warnings: Check tide timings.

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

Reverse direction: Railwalks.

Flat coastal path, seaside promenade, harbour, mudflats, beach huts, residential streets, open grassy seafront and army training area margins.

Time: 4h30 (3h walking, 1h30 lunch)

Warnings: MOD closures apply.

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

Flat riverside path, marshland, industrial scenery, flood defences, graffiti art walls, former wharves and Thames views throughout.

Time: 5h30 (4h walking, 1h30 lunch)

Warnings: Flood risk eastern half.

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

Recommended: A flat and easy walk, entirely tarmacked.

Coastal: almost all along the coast.

Time: 3h30 (2h walking, 1h30 lunch)

Warnings: Follows a busy road for a sixth of the walk.

Walk details: Railwalks.

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.

Time: 4h30 (3h walking, 1h30 lunch)

Walk details: Slow Ways.

Uses a foot and cycle path along the A127 to the Rayleigh Weir roundabout to cross safely.

Rayleigh Mount (National Trust)

Time: 5h (3h30 walking, 1h30 lunch)

Walk details: Slow Ways.

A varied, enjoyable but challenging route with a dull pavement start out of Basildon, then a golf course needing careful navigation, a nature reserve, the England Coast Path, a surfaced country park track to Hadleigh Castle. Much of it is wet and slippery in winter and with clay fields near the end; several short flights of steps and stiles. The coastal section is part of the England Coast Path. Passes the quaint St Margaret's Church with a bench, and ripe blackberries in late summer. Easy and affordable trains from either end.

Time: 5h30 (4h walking, 1h30 lunch)

Warnings: The path across the golf course needs careful navigation as marker posts are few and indistinct. Several wet, slippery and muddy sections in winter that are largely unavoidable.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

Time: 4h (2h30 walking, 1h30 lunch)

Walk details: Slow Ways.

The path along the estuary was gorgeous, beautiful views. A largely estuary-side route on a temporary alignment, with a lower-traffic exit from Tilbury Station using a new footbridge, a road section with HGV traffic near Tilbury Fort, a gorgeous path along the estuary with shorebirds and wildflowers and old wharves. A field path replaces part of the original near Stanford-le-Hope. Passes Coalhouse Fort (with a café and park) and Tilbury Fort (with grazing ponies and a star-shaped moat); inside the forts you must pay. Salt-marsh wildflowers and shorebirds along the estuary. The route is part of the Thames Estuary Path; East Tilbury has a station, pubs and shops for breaking the walk.

Time: 6h (4h30 walking, 1h30 lunch)

Lunch: There is a café at Coalhouse Fort park, roughly mid-route.

1 end-of-walk reward: the World's End

Warnings: A road section near Tilbury Fort carries HGV traffic. The first part out of East Tilbury along the road is a drag and may be quieter outside school pickup time.

Walk details: Slow Ways.