Walks Near Barnet: Circular Routes, Parks and Riversides

The walks most people near Barnet start with are the Dollis Valley Greenwalk, ten waymarked miles beside the Dollis Brook from Mill Hill to Hampstead Heath; the London Loop across Totteridge Fields and Monken Hadley Common; the Capital Ring from Hendon Park to Highgate; and the lake and woods of Trent Country Park at Cockfosters. Every entry was checked against the owner’s or the route’s official guidance on 26 October 2026.

We have not walked these routes for this guide, and nothing here is a rating. Each entry sets out what the people who run or map the route publish: distance, the ground underfoot, mud, toilets and cafes, and how to get there and back. The long routes come first, then the woods, commons and nature reserves you can walk round in an hour or two. October to March is mud season on almost all of them, so the warnings below matter more than usual this week.

The long waymarked routes

Dollis Valley Greenwalk, Mill Hill to Hampstead Garden Suburb

The borough’s own long walk, about 10 miles (16km) from Moat Mount Open Space in Mill Hill to the edge of Hampstead Heath Extension at Meadway, following the Dollis Brook and then the Mutton Brook. The Long Distance Walkers Association lists 125m of ascent in total and waymarking of white arrows on green discs. It passes Barnet Gate Wood, Totteridge Fields, the Dollis Brook viaduct, Windsor Open Space and Big and Little Wood. According to Wikipedia’s account, it grew out of the Brookside Walk that Finchley Council built in the 1930s, and the path south of Woodside Park is mostly flat, partly surfaced and considered suitable for wheelchairs and pushchairs, while the stretch between Woodside Park and Mill Hill can be very muddy. Totteridge and Whetstone station is the only point on the route with shops and toilets. Woodside Park, Finchley Central and Golders Green stations (Northern line) are all close enough to walk it in sections.

London Loop section 16, Elstree to High Barnet

The western half of the Loop’s longest section, about 11km (7 miles) on the Go Jauntly route TfL links to, from Elstree and Borehamwood station into High Barnet. The Ramblers’ guidance for TfL (revised December 2024) describes it as mainly level on rough paths, tracks and grass, with one longish steep climb, and warns that it “can get very muddy after heavy rain”. It crosses Scratchwood, an oak wood the Ramblers say has stood since the last Ice Age, Moat Mount and Totteridge Fields, and runs alongside the Dollis Valley Greenwalk between Moat Mount and Barnet Lane. There are no public toilets on the route, and few places to leave it: the Ramblers note a bus to Edgware station from Moat Mount. It ends near High Barnet station (Northern line).

London Loop section 16, High Barnet to Cockfosters

The shorter half, 6.5km on Go Jauntly’s route, from the upper exit of High Barnet station down Barnet Hill, through King George’s Fields and across Monken Hadley Common to Jack’s Lake and Cockfosters. The Ramblers’ guide points out Livingstone Cottage, where a plaque says the explorer lived in the 1850s, and records that Jack’s Lake was dug around 1880 by Charles Jack of Beech Hill House; the two lakes above it are no longer open to the public. The Ramblers list pubs and cafes in Barnet, Hadley and Cockfosters, but no public toilets on the route; they mention the toilets in the Cock Inn almost at the end. Finish at Cockfosters station (Piccadilly line), or carry on into Trent Country Park.

Capital Ring section 11, Hendon Park to Highgate

The Capital Ring’s run across the south of the borough: 5.0 miles, or 5.6 miles (9km) with the walks to and from Hendon Central and Highgate stations, according to the Ramblers’ section guide. It follows the River Brent and the Mutton Brook past the Decoy lake in Brent Park, once a duck decoy, crosses the Finchley Road within sight of the La Délivrance statue, then goes through Hampstead Garden Suburb, Lyttelton Playing Fields, East Finchley and three remnants of the ancient Middlesex forest: Cherry Tree, Highgate and Queen’s Woods. The Ramblers describe it as mostly firm, level paths with “some steep ups and downs and rough ground” near Highgate, which a parallel route avoids for wheelchairs and buggies. Pubs and cafes at Hendon Central, Northway, East Finchley, Highgate Wood and Queen’s Wood; public toilets at Highgate Wood and Queen’s Wood only.

Woods, commons and nature reserves

Scratchwood and Moat Mount Open Space, Mill Hill

Together a Local Nature Reserve at the top of the borough, and the start of the Dollis Valley Greenwalk. Wikipedia describes Scratchwood as 57 hectares of mainly sessile oak and hornbeam woodland, a remnant of the Middlesex forest bought by Hendon Urban District Council in 1923, with nuthatches and cuckoos among its breeding birds. Moat Mount next door is about 110 hectares of hilly grassland and woods with wide views from the top, the Leg of Mutton Pond, and the source of the Dollis Brook on Mote End Farm, which is private (Wikipedia). Wikipedia records the main Moat Mount car park on the southbound A1 Barnet Way as permanently closed; Scratchwood’s car park is reached from the northbound side near Stirling Corner. Other entrances are on Hendon Wood Lane and Bedford Road. Barnet Way, NW7.

Totteridge Fields, Totteridge

Seven hectares of ancient hay meadows with old hawthorn and blackthorn hedges and veteran oaks, managed by the London Wildlife Trust and crossed by both the London Loop and the Dollis Valley Greenwalk. The Trust’s page says it is open at all times, level with “no steps or slopes”, though most paths are unsurfaced, and that April to July is the time for blossom, wildflowers and butterflies; the Ramblers add the six-spot burnet moth, bright red and flying by day. Dogs must be on a lead. The main entrance is beside the Old Cholmelian Sports Club on Hendon Wood Lane, with kissing gates at Totteridge Common and in the north-east corner. Street parking on The Ridgeway; the 251 bus stops on Totteridge Common, and Totteridge and Whetstone station is about 30 minutes’ walk. Hendon Wood Lane, NW7 4HR.

Monken Hadley Common and Jack’s Lake, Hadley

About 72 hectares of oak, hornbeam and beech woodland in a wedge roughly 2.4km long between Hadley Green and Cockfosters, a surviving piece of the royal hunting forest of Enfield Chase (Wikipedia). The London Gardens Trust records that it is owned and managed by its Trustees, is open at all times, and keeps five listed gates; commoners grazed cattle here until the 1950s. Jack’s Lake at the Cockfosters end is fished under licence by the Hadley Angling and Preservation Society. The London Loop crosses the common, and so does the 13-mile Pymmes Brook Trail, which the Ramblers say starts at Hadley Green and follows the brook through a chain of parks to the River Lea at Tottenham Hale. Entrances include Camlet Way, Games Road and Hadley Common. New Barnet and Hadley Wood are the nearest stations; buses 84, 184, 298, 299, 383, 384 and 399 run nearby.

Big Wood and Little Wood, Hampstead Garden Suburb

Two Local Nature Reserves of old woodland in the middle of the Suburb, 7.3 and 1.2 hectares, which Wikipedia says have been forest for over a thousand years. They were leased to the Hampstead Garden Suburb Trust in 1911 and have belonged to Barnet Council since 1965; Little Wood has had an open-air theatre since 1920. The Dollis Valley Greenwalk passes both, and the Capital Ring guide notes Big Wood is reachable from its route. Entrances to Big Wood are on Northway, Temple Fortune Hill, Oakwood Road and Denman Drive South, and to Little Wood on Denman Drive North and Addison Way. It is an easy add-on to a walk on the Heath Extension below. Golders Green station is the nearest. NW11.

Hampstead Heath Extension, Hampstead Garden Suburb

The Barnet end of Hampstead Heath, where the Dollis Valley Greenwalk finishes. The London Gardens Trust describes sloping grassland with old hedgerows, mature oaks and seven ponds fed by a stream, playing fields on the lower slope and hay meadows above, bought from Eton College in the early 20th century. Along the top runs the listed Great Wall of the Suburb, with the raised Sunshine Corner terrace at the end of Heathgate. It is owned by the City of London Corporation and open at all times. For a cafe and toilets, carry on across North End Road to Golders Hill Park, also run by the City, with a free zoo and a walled garden, open 7.30am to dusk. Hampstead Way and Wildwood Road, NW11 6UX; Golders Green station is the nearest.

The Welsh Harp (Brent Reservoir), West Hendon

The only Site of Special Scientific Interest in Barnet or Brent, a reservoir of 68.6 hectares dug in 1834 and 1835 to feed the Regent’s Canal, now owned by the Canal and River Trust (Wikipedia). It is known for breeding waterbirds such as great crested grebes, and the Trust’s page says the floating nesting islands put in for them in 2022 can be seen from Cool Oak Bridge. It is free, with no toilets on site; limited free parking is off the North Circular at Edward Road and Woodfield Park, or past the Cool Oak Lane bridge. Hendon station is at one end of the reservoir and Neasden at the other. A shorter walk runs from the Cool Oak Lane bridge along the waterside path and back via Welsh Harp Open Space on Birchen Grove, NW9 7LY, which Brent Council lists as a Local Nature Reserve with a car park.

Just over the border

Trent Country Park, Cockfosters

Strictly in Enfield, but the London Loop runs straight on into it from Monken Hadley Common, and it is a ten-minute walk from Cockfosters station. The Friends of Trent Country Park describe a 413-acre estate in the Green Belt, open every day from 8am (8.30am on Sundays) until a seasonal closing time posted at the Cockfosters Road entrance. Parking in the two council car parks inside that entrance is free, with blue badge bays by the toilets, which close an hour before the park does. There is a cafe by the car parks and a tea shop in the animal sanctuary at the end of the lime avenue. Dogs are welcome except in play areas. The Good Run Guide puts the perimeter at about 4 miles. Use the Cockfosters Road address, not the postcode, which the Friends say leads to a closed entrance.

How we chose

These are the walks people across the borough search for, chosen on what can be checked: official waymarked routes, owners’ and wildlife trusts’ published details, and how easily they can be reached from EN4, EN5, N2, N3, N12, N20, NW4, NW7, NW9 and NW11 on the Northern line, Thameslink or a bus. Distances and conditions come from the Ramblers’ route guides written for Transport for London, the Long Distance Walkers Association and the London Wildlife Trust, and history from the London Gardens Trust and Wikipedia, as linked in each entry. Paths get diverted and car parks close, so the Ramblers ask walkers to check their London Loop and Capital Ring news pages before setting out. In winter, plan to finish before dusk; several parks close their gates then.

Run a walking group, Friends group or park cafe that should be here, or spot something that has changed? Email newsdesk@barnetlive.co.uk.

For more locally, see things to do in Barnet, what’s on in Barnet this month, the Waylamps of Barnet heritage trail, our guides to Barnet playgrounds and parks, pubs, Sunday roasts and restaurants, and the Barnet business directory.

Frequently asked questions

Where does the Dollis Valley Greenwalk start and finish?

It runs for about 10 miles (16km) from Moat Mount Open Space in Mill Hill to the edge of Hampstead Heath Extension at Meadway in Hampstead Garden Suburb, mostly beside the Dollis Brook and Mutton Brook. It is waymarked with white arrows on green discs. Totteridge and Whetstone station is the only point on the route with shops and toilets, so many people walk it in stretches.

Which walks near Barnet are suitable for pushchairs or wheelchairs?

The Dollis Valley Greenwalk south of Woodside Park is mostly flat and partly surfaced, and is generally considered suitable for wheelchairs and pushchairs; north of there it can be very muddy. Totteridge Fields is level with no steps, though most paths are unsurfaced. The Ramblers say the Capital Ring from Hendon Park to Highgate is mainly on firm paths but has steep, rough ground near the end, which a parallel route avoids.

Is there a circular walk near Barnet?

Trent Country Park, a ten-minute walk from Cockfosters station, has waymarked trails and a perimeter of roughly 4 miles, with free parking, a cafe and toilets. At the Welsh Harp, a waterside path from the Cool Oak Lane bridge loops back via Birchen Grove. You can also make a loop of Monken Hadley Common by going out on the London Loop to Jack’s Lake and back along the common’s other paths.