Wander along London’s longest linear nature reserve from Finsbury Park to Highgate. Want to make a full day of it? Continue on through ancient woodlands to the iconic bastion of Alexandra Palace.

By Pat Kinsella

Published: Friday, 24 November 2023 at 14:58 PM


Trundling through trees in North London, tracing the course of an extinct Victorian-era railway line, the Parkland Walk is a traffic-free trek that can be explored in two parts, or done in one. 

The southern section detailed here chugs along London’s longest linear nature reserve, a hidden (possibly haunted), wildlife-rich green corridor, stretching from Finsbury Park, around Crouch End to Highgate, passing ghost platforms and railway arches splattered with stunning street art.

A verdant link section through ancient woodlands leads to the northern half, which steams around Muswell Hill and climbs to the iconic antennae-topped broadcasting bastion of Alexandra Palace, delivering sensational views over London. 

More London walks

The walk begins in Finsbury Park/Credit: Getty

Parkland Walk

Parkland Walk southern section: 2.5 miles miles / 4km | 1.5 hours | easy

Parkland Walk whole route: 4.9 miles / 8km | 3.5 hours | moderate

1. Start

From Finsbury Park Tube station, cross the road at the lights, turn left on Stroud Green Road, then bear right along the walkway just before the railway bridge, following Capital Ring link waymarkers into the great green expanse of the park – a wonderfully expansive alfresco playground for North Londoners since 1869. Keep going straight until you reach a T-junction with the main Capital Ring trail, and then turn left. Exit Finsbury Park across a footbridge over train tracks. 

2. Parkland Walk

Immediately turn right and set off along the Parkland Walk proper, following a dismantled railway line upon which, from the late 1860s until 1970, trains puffed through London’s ‘Northern Heights’. The noisy locomotives are long gone and the route has been transformed into a peaceful path popular with walkers, runners and cyclists.

An oasis for local humans seeking to escape concrete, crowds and traffic, this elongated nature reserve is also home to all kinds of wildlife – from foxes and muntjac deer to myriad species of butterflies, birds and bats – and it provides a vital vehicle-free corridor for vulnerable nocturnal wanderers such as hedgehogs.

Parkland Walk around Crouch End area in London
Parkland Walk following the course of the old railway through Crouch End/Credit: Getty

3. Stapleton Bridge Road

Stroll along the wide, unsealed path, which crosses the occasional road bridge but otherwise passes through a tunnel of trees with suburbia largely unseen on either side. Information boards provide details about local flora and fauna, explaining that over 60 species of bird inhabit this secret stretch of semi-wilderness, including finches, goldcrests, redpolls, jays, spotted woodpeckers, nuthatches and even the occasional kestrel. Keep going, across Stapleton Bridge Road and through more trees that shade an acid grassland habitat.

Great spotted woodpecker at nest hole
Great spotted woodpecker among the woods/Credit: Getty

4. Crouch End Hill

Walk beneath two bridges, the sides of which are kaleidoscopically coloured with urban artwork. Pass a fingerpost pointing to Crouch Hill, but continue straight ahead towards Highgate (1 mile). Ignore a path rising to the left, and continue through the slightly surreal surrounds of an abandoned railway station – Crouch End Hill – complete with long-deserted platforms, which now stand incongruously on either side of the reclaimed track.  

See if you can spot a man-sized figure emerging from one of the brick arches around here; this mythical creature is called a Spriggan, and it is rumoured to haunt this section of the path. The sculpture was created by artist Marilyn Collins, but the story behind it is thought to have inspired a Stephen King short story called Crouch End.

5. Stanhope Road

After you go under a bridge, the track rises slightly and becomes more densely wooded, with trees including cherry laurel, holm oak and holly, all festooned with ivy. Cross a bridge over Stanhope Road, and pass a garden on the right, by a couple of old fashioned street lamps, where Friends of the Parkland Walk have created a small woodland trail, complete with insect lodges, bug hotels, hedgehog houses, bat boxes, bird feeders and a frog pond, along with informative signage.

6. Boogaloo

As you approach Highgate, the old railway track trundles into the gloom of a long-ago blocked-off tunnel, while the Parkland Walk lurches left and emerges on Archway Road, near the brilliant Boogaloo, a legendary pub. You can bail here and head to Highgate tube station.

Alexandra Park and Alexandra Palace in London
Front view of Alexandra Palace from Alexandra Park in the springtime/Credit: Getty

Optional: northern half of the Parkland Walk

If you want to do the second, northern half of the Parkland Walk, follow Capital Ring waymarkers right along Shepherds Hill and then through Queen’s Wood and Highgate Wood – two surviving remnants of an ancient woodland that once cloaked the entirety of London, and much of the country beyond – to Cranley Gardens. Here signage gets you back on track, to follow the old railway line around the flanks of Muswell Hill and up to Alexandra Palace, where you can enjoy views right across the capital. 


Parkland Walk map

Parkland Walk – southern section (2.5 miles)

Parkland Walk route and map

Parkland Walk map
Parkland Walk – southern section/Credit: OS Maps

Parkland Walk – whole route (5 miles)

Parkland Walk route and map

Parkland Walk map
Parkland walk – whole route/Credit: OS Maps

Useful information

Starting point

Start from Finsbury Park underground station (tube), which is on the Piccadilly and Victoria lines. 

Finish point

The southern section of the Parkland Walk described here finishes near Highgate underground station, which is on the Northern Line (High Barnet branch). If you continue and complete the northern section, you will finish near Alexandra Palace overground train station.

Terrain

The path is a mixture of sealed and unsealed surfaces, but the dirt and gravel sections are hardpacked and easy to walk on. It is all wheelchair and pushchair friendly.

Map

OS Explorer 173 London North

Eat/drink/stay

Merro (instagram.com/merrocafe) is an excellent Crouch End café just beside the Parkland Walk, accessible from the abandoned platforms at old Crouch End Hill station (point 4).

The Boogaloo (theboogaloo.co.uk) is a legendary pub located at the end of the southern section of the Parkland Walk, which offers lots of ales, hearty food and regular live music sessions.

The Roseview Alexandra Palace Hotel (roseviewhotel.co.uk) offers boutique accommodation in Muswell Hill, between the southern and northern sections of the Parkland Walk


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