Walks from Haywards Heath

Low hills, Ouse Valley, woodland, nature reserves, fields, hedgerows, historic villages and canal-era river crossings.

Time: 4h30

Warnings: Can be muddy.

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

Undulating High Weald farmland, woodland, golf course, reservoir dam wall, fields and a private school grounds.

Time: 4h

Warnings: Can be muddy.

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

Rolling Sussex countryside and South Downs views; farmland and woodland through Ditchling along an old Roman road.

Woodland: a quarter under tree cover.

Ditchling

Time: 4h–8h30

Walk details: Walking Post (tips, photos and local insights).

Rolling High Weald hills, woodland, farmland, river valley, golf course, level crossing and quiet lanes.

Time: 2h30

Warnings: Can be muddy.

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

High Weald farmland and woodland on the Sussex Ouse Valley Way, past the spectacular 37-arch Ouse Valley Viaduct.

The Ouse Valley Viaduct: An ornate 1841 brick railway viaduct of 37 arches carrying the London-Brighton line over the Ouse.

Time: 2h30

Warnings: Possible mud near the golf club.

Walk details: Travelog Lewes (tips, photos, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).

Woods, wildflower meadows, farmland, High Weald ridge, golf course and suburban road sections.

Time: 4h30

Warnings: Can be muddy.

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

Forest, fields, Sussex villages and views; St Leonard's Forest, historic Slaugham village, Cuckfield, South Downs views.

Woodland: a third under tree cover.

St Leonard's Forest: An expansive forest of ancient woodland between Horsham and Crawley.

Time: 5h30–10h30

Walk details: Walking Post (tips, photos and local insights).

Recommended: Some of the best High Weald landscapes; A great walk; A fabulous walk for wild garlic. A strenuous 19.5km High Weald hike with plenty of ups and downs, mostly on footpaths and bridleways across small fields and through woodland, following the High Weald Landscape Trail for much of the way, around Ardingly Reservoir and via Weir Wood Reservoir. Several kissing gates, footbridges and a boardwalk, no stiles; muddy and wet in places and spectacular for wild garlic and bluebells. Follows the High Weald Landscape Trail, passing Ardingly and Weir Wood reservoirs. Ardingly and West Hoathly offer pubs and public toilets; a short detour reaches Standen (National Trust, café and WC) and Wakehurst (part of Kew). MetroBus 84 and 222 intersect the route.

Woodland: two fifths under tree cover.

Time: 5h30–11h

Lunch: A bakery at Ardingly for bacon baps, and coffee at the Kingscote Vineyard shop.

Warnings: Muddy and wet in places, with possible fallen trees after storms. Take particular care on the road crossing coming into West Hoathly. A small stream runs down the path below Philpotts Manor School (dries only in high summer).

Walk details: Slow Ways.

Recommended: Lovely walk through the various landscapes of the High Weald; really nice walk, varied in environment and rich in nature. A really nice, varied walk through the landscapes of the High Weald, crossing the Sussex Ouse Valley and skirting Ardingly Reservoir, through the bluebell woods of Cowdray and Tilgate Forests. Starts on main roads out of Crawley, then woodland, open farmland and some lane walking; the walking gets quite steep in places and with a holloway whose banks steepen. Easy to follow and quite direct. Crosses the Sussex Ouse Valley and the High Weald. Balcombe, roughly midway, has a high street with shops and a pub.

Woodland: half under tree cover.

Time: 5h–9h30

Lunch: Balcombe, roughly midway, offers a high street of shops and a pub.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

An attractive route. An attractive route passing through hay meadows, cattle pastures, cereal fields and the wild heathland of Chailey Common, taking in pretty villages. Well traced on the map, but some sections have missing fingerposts and broken stiles and one stretch is very overgrown. Passes through the villages of Newick and Scaynes Hill, and across Chailey Common.

Time: 5h–9h30

Lunch: Pubs and village stores in Newick and Scaynes Hill.

Warnings: The worst section, about 1.5 miles from Uckfield between the A22 roundabout and a disused railway embankment, is rarely used and very overgrown, wading through bracken, nettles and brambles. Some broken stiles and missing fingerposts; sat nav helps keep direction across Chailey Common.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

Some delightful views. A route making the most of urban green spaces, including railway lands, Ashenground Woods, Victoria Park and The Heath, linked by the wide, quiet but muddy Theobalds Road bridleway. Fairly road-heavy at each end; the bridleway and railway-side paths can be nearly impassable with mud after heavy rain and there are several stiles. Theobalds Road is the ancient bridle path connecting the two towns, with signs explaining the area's history and nature. Wivelsfield station, on the route, is the better-connected of Burgess Hill's two stations.

Woodland: a quarter under tree cover.

The Victoria Park: East London's oldest public park, opened in 1845.

Time: 2h–4h

Lunch: Shops and a pub around Wivelsfield Station.

Warnings: A fifth urban. The Theobalds Road bridleway and the paths north of Rocky Lane can be extremely muddy, nearly impassable for around a kilometre after heavy rain. Several stiles, plus a level crossing on Junction Road that frequently closes.

Walk details: Slow Ways.