Walks you can reach from Yetminster by train
MapA day hike is just a simple train journey away — plan your next day of green.
Alternatively, view walks directly from Yetminster.
Maiden Newton Circular via Cerne Abbas (Dorset)
15 minutes direct from Yetminster.
Chalk downland, dry hanging valleys, rounded hills, broad ridges, chalk streams, picturesque villages and historic churches.
Time: 8h30 (7h walking, 1h30 lunch)
Warnings: Six hilly ascents.
Walk details: the Saturday Walkers Club (tips, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).
Castle Cary Circular via Cadbury Castle (Camelot) (Somerset)
30 minutes direct from Yetminster.
Somerset Levels fringes, hillock, quiet residential streets, charming market town, dry green valley, ancient holloway, pastures, shallow river valley, hillfort plateau, steep ascents, large WWII airfield remains and broad plateau with views.
Time: 9h (7h walking, 1h30 lunch, 30m break)
Warnings: Steep ascents and descents.
Walk details: the Saturday Walkers Club (tips, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).
Dorchester Circular via Hardy's Cottage (Dorset)
30 minutes direct from Yetminster.
Thomas Hardy country east of Dorchester — his thatched birthplace cottage and the woodland and heathland of Thorncombe Wood.
Hardy's Cottage: The thatched cottage birthplace of writer Thomas Hardy, set within Thorncombe Wood nature reserve and cared for by the National Trust.
Thorncombe Wood: A mixed woodland nature reserve surrounding Hardy's Cottage with waymarked trails and heathland.
Time: 4h30 (3h walking, 1h30 lunch)
Lunch: The Under the Greenwood Tree cafe at the Hardy's Cottage visitor centre; pubs and cafes in Dorchester.
Warnings: Hardy's Cottage can only be visited on a guided tour; check National Trust opening arrangements before setting out.
Walk details: Visit Dorset (tips, photos and local insights).
Bruton Circular via Stourhead Estate (Somerset)
30 minutes direct from Yetminster.
South Somerset pastures, wooded ridge forming the Wiltshire/Somerset boundary, hanging woods, landscaped estate gardens with lakeside walks, grassy U-shaped valley and honey-coloured stone-built town.
Stourhead (National Trust)
Stourhead Estate (National Trust)
Time: 7h (5h30 walking, 1h30 lunch)
Walk details: the Saturday Walkers Club (tips, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).
Weymouth to Dorchester (Dorset)
30 minutes direct from Yetminster.
Recommended: The huge view of Weymouth Bay and over to Portland opens up suddenly and exhilaratingly from the top of the South Dorset Ridgeway; the views are spectacular. Undulating but easy walking, mostly on tracks across intensively farmed arable hills and with a roady margin leaving Dorchester. Climbs to the South Dorset Ridgeway before dropping through a holiday park to the coast and a long promenade walk. Follows the Hardy Way and the Jubilee Trail. Passes a reedy bird reserve behind the coast path. Trains roughly two-hourly. Worth a diversion to view the Osmington White Horse.
Hardy's House, Max Gate (National Trust)
Time: 5h30 (4h walking, 1h30 lunch)
Lunch: A couple of pubs on the way, and plenty of chip shops on the Weymouth seafront.
Walk details: Slow Ways.
Bath Spa to Frome (Somerset)
45 minutes direct from Yetminster.
Recommended: A great walk. A great walk with a good variety of open fields, woodland, stony tracks and a disused-railway cycle track and with very little on roads. Muddy at some points; a very steep climb with steps from the cycle track up to Combe Down if walked from Frome.
Hilly: a quarter on high ground, rising above the surrounding land.
Woodland: a fifth under tree cover.
Prior Park Landscape Garden (National Trust)
Time: 7h30 (6h walking, 1h30 lunch)
Lunch: A pub at Norton St Philip, mid-route, makes a good coffee stop.
Warnings: A very steep climb with steps from the cycle track up to Combe Down.
Walk details: Slow Ways.
Chetnole to Maiden Newton (Dorset)
4 minutes direct from Yetminster.
Great views; picturesque. Hill and moorland paths and with substantial climbs.
Hilly: a quarter on high ground, rising above the surrounding land.
Time: 6h30 (5h walking, 1h30 lunch)
Walk details: Railwalks.
Trowbridge to Bath Spa (Wiltshire)
1 hour direct from Yetminster.
Beautiful walk; fantastic. Canal towpath with fields.
Prior Park Landscape Garden (National Trust)
Bath Skyline (National Trust)
Time: 7h (5h30 walking, 1h30 lunch)
Warnings: Short stretch on a fast-traffic road with limited verge.
Walk details: Railwalks.
Frome to Dilton Marsh (Somerset)
45 minutes direct from Yetminster.
Frome to Bradford-on-Avon (Somerset)
45 minutes direct from Yetminster.
Significantly more attractive. A quiet, safe route to the west of the B3090, slightly longer than alternatives but avoiding busy-road crossings and partly alongside Orchardleigh lake.
Westwood Manor (National Trust)
Time: 6h30 (5h walking, 1h30 lunch)
Walk details: Slow Ways.
Trowbridge to Melksham (Wiltshire)
1 hour direct from Yetminster.
The central section running along the reed-fringed Kennet and Avon Canal is a delight. A route with about half on pavements alongside urban and suburban roads (some quiet) and a delightful central section along the reed-fringed Kennet and Avon Canal towpath, sheltered by a hedge with views over the fields. The towpath is gravelly, stony and sometimes narrow and uneven, with a few short and potentially slippery slopes at bridges. Extends the canal towpath to Semington to be more wheelchair/pushchair friendly. A mostly off-road paved cycle track by the railway runs from the canal to Trowbridge station.
Time: 4h (2h30 walking, 1h30 lunch)
Warnings: A fifth urban.
Walk details: Railwalks.
Dilton Marsh to Trowbridge (Wiltshire)
1 hour direct from Yetminster.