A hundred and fifty miles right around the edge of London, the outer ring to the Capital Ring's inner one
Indicative — sampled from open terrain data along the simplified route.
The London LOOP — the London Outer Orbital Path — is a 150-mile walk that almost encircles Greater London through its outer suburbs and green belt. It runs clockwise in 24 sections from Erith, on the south bank of the Thames, to Purfleet, which faces it across the water on the north bank. The sections run from about four to ten miles, and all begin and end near a station, so like its inner counterpart the Capital Ring it is built to be walked piecemeal rather than in one go.
Nicknamed the M25 for walkers, it keeps to the countryside and open spaces at the city’s edge rather than its streets. It takes in Bushy Park and Nonsuch Park in the south-west, Farthing Downs on the chalk of the North Downs, Epping Forest and Hainault Forest in the north-east, and Trent Park in the north, crossing the Thames at Kingston in the middle. The going is mostly flat or gently rolling and easy underfoot.
In looping around the capital the path slips in and out of Surrey, Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Essex as well as the outer London boroughs. It was devised by the London Walking Forum, opened in 1993 and completed throughout in 2001.
