Powdermill Cut – View of Seventy Acres Lake loop from Walthamstow Central

Bike touring routes & trails

Powdermill Cut – View of Seventy Acres Lake loop from Walthamstow Central

Hard

4.9

(10)

riders

Powdermill Cut – View of Seventy Acres Lake loop from Walthamstow Central

05:02

78.3km

290m

Cycling

Hard bike ride. Very good fitness required. You may need to push your bike for some segments of this route. The starting point of the route is accessible with public transport.

Last updated: August 27, 2026

Tips

Includes a segment in which cycling is not permitted

After 22.3 km for 58 m

Waypoints

Start point

Train Station

Get Directions

10.9 km

North Long Hills

Forest

11.5 km

Epping Forest Gravel Trails

Highlight • MTB Park

Epping Forest has a huge network of shared-use trails that are well-surfaced and wide enough to be enjoyed by pedestrians and cyclists at the same time.

Cycling is permitted on most of the paths in Epping Forest with the exception of the Iron Age camps, Loughton Brook and other ecologically or geomorphologically sensitive areas.

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12.8 km

Mott Street Climb, Epping Forest

Highlight (Segment) • Cycleway

Number 26 of the UK's top 100 Climbs. Just North of London in the county of Essex lies High Beach and the climb of Mott Sreet.

Studying the topography, it's a surprise to find such a tough ascent in this area, (there are many shorter hills around), but Mott Street is a a proper climb. Begin your ascent at the broken bridleway marker just off the A112. The road bends left, passing the junction to Lipits Hill, and then rises.

A tough opening section flattens where you reach the farm buildings on both sides of the road. A strong whiff of manure is just what you need to propel you up the following lump onto the hardest section. The well-surfaced stretch with a 12% gradient winds past large gated properties on both sides, levelling slightly halfway up. The final sector heads into tree cover and the brow comes opposite a bridleway, after which there are just a few hundred meters of false flat before the climb ends at the junction of Church Road.

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19.3 km

Waltham Town Lock

Lake

20.8 km

Powdermill Cut

Highlight • River

Rode this rotue on touring tyres, would recommend gravel or even wet/mud tyres.

Wear eye and a buff for the flying insects on some of the paths.

Quite a few of the single tracks are overgrown with nettles (gloves, long sleeve and trousers recommended). Be carefull riding the single track as there are some overgrown stepped areas that can catch you out if you are going too fast.

Also, some single track may have windfall across the trail so a quick hike a bike may be necessary.

Do take the time to stop occasionally and take in the views and wildlife, it really is worthwhile.

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22.3 km

Cheshunt Lock

Lake

26.8 km

Rusheymead

Forest

36.7 km

River Lea Navigation at Ware

Highlight • Viewpoint

Nice path along the river!

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40.6 km

Hartham Common

Highlight • Trail

Large park for a break and rest and some good open green alongside the canal

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41.3 km

River Lea Towpath: Hertford to Ware

Highlight (Segment) • River

A gravelly cyclepath and towpath. Suitable for wider tyres. The footbridge at The Cut at Ware has been closed for years so you'll have to turn off earlier to rejoin.

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