🥾 Walking route
Bruce Trail Friendship Trail
Gloucestershire
- 📏 9.7 km · 6.1 mi
- ⛰ +438 m
- ⏱ 3 hr
- 🐕 On lead
Walk stats
- Distance9.7 km · 6.1 mi
- Elevation+438 m
- Duration3 hr
- DifficultyModerate
- Route typeCircular
- TerrainField paths, beech woodland and scarp-edge ridge tracks with a sustained climb
- Best seasonSpring for bluebells in the beechwoods, autumn for colour
- DogsDog friendly, but livestock likely on the commons so keep on lead near grazing
About this walk
Starting and finishing in the village of Haresfield on the western edge of the Cotswolds, this circular route climbs steadily onto the escarpment for some of the finest views in Gloucestershire. Early on you pass Cromwell's Stone, a reminder of the area's long-standing links to the English Civil War, before entering the woodland of the Cotswold Commons and Beechwoods.
The path winds through mature beech before emerging near the Bird in Hand, a welcome landmark on the higher ground. From here you follow the ridge to the Haresfield Topograph, where a viewpoint indicator picks out landmarks across the Severn Vale, and on to Haresfield Beacon itself, the airy prow of the escarpment with sweeping westward views.
The return leg drops back off the scarp towards Haresfield, with Scottsquar Hill, the Randwick transmitter and Maitlands Wood visible along the way. Pitchcombe War Memorial and Daniel's Brook lie a short detour off the route for anyone wanting to extend the day.
Route map
Route line drawn from OpenStreetMap footpath data. Numbered markers are waypoints on the route; amber star markers are points of interest a short detour away.
Waypoints along the route
6 waypoints along the way
- 1
Haresfield (start and finish)
- Start / finish
Start and finish of this circular route.
- 2
Cromwell's Stone
- 3
Cotswold Commons and Beechwoods
- 4
Bird in Hand
- 5
Haresfield Topograph
- 6
Haresfield Beacon
Worth a short detour
Points of interest just off the route, look for the amber markers on the map.
Scottsquar Hill
~265 m off the route
Randwick transmitter
~308 m off the route
Pitchcombe War Memorial
~450 m off the route
Maitlands Wood
~302 m off the route
Daniel's Brook
~416 m off the route
Route & waypoint data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).