Uffington White Horse – Uffington White Horse loop from White Horse Hill

Hiking trails & Routes

Uffington White Horse – Uffington White Horse loop from White Horse Hill

Moderate

4.5

(13)

hikers

Uffington White Horse – Uffington White Horse loop from White Horse Hill

02:39

9.90km

120m

Hiking

Moderate hike. Good fitness required. Easily walkable paths. The starting point of the route is right next to a parking lot.

Last updated: October 16, 2026

Tips

Your route passes through a protected area

Please check local regulations for:

North Wessex Downs National Landscape

Waypoints

Start point

Parking

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713 m

Uffington White Horse

Highlight • Climb

The white horse at Uffington, carved out of the hillside and coloured with white chalk is believed to be the oldest in Britain, and of a much simpler style than the other chalk horses that it inspired since. Historians date it to the Iron or Bronze age, and at over 100 metres long (over 328 feet) is heralded as an incredibly early example of minimalist art.

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958 m

View of North Wessex Downs from Grassy Trail

Highlight • Trail

1.14 km

Uffington Castle hillfort

Highlight • Historical Site

Uffington Castle is an early Iron Age (with underlying Bronze Age) univallate hillfort in Oxfordshire, England. It covers about 32,000 square metres and is surrounded by two earth banks separated by a ditch with an entrance in the western end. A second entrance in the eastern end was apparently blocked up a few centuries after it was built. The original defensive ditch was V-shaped with a small box rampart in front and a larger one behind it. Timber posts stood on the ramparts. Later the ditch was deepened and the extra material dumped on top of the ramparts to increase their size. A parapet wall of sarsen stones lined the top of the innermost rampart.
Excavations have indicated that it was probably built in the 7th or 8th century BC and continued to be occupied throughout the Iron Age. Isolated postholes were found inside the fort but no evidence of buildings. Pottery, loom weights and animal bone finds suggest some form of occupation however. The most activity appears to have been during the Roman period as the artefacts recovered from the upper fills of the ditch attest. The ramparts were remodelled to provide more entrances, and a shrine seems to have been built in the early 4th century AD. Two oblong mounds, one containing 46 Romano-British burials and one containing eight Saxon burials, lie nearby.
An ancient track passes by the northern entrance to the hillfort; it is known as The Ridgeway. It links to the Icknield Way at the Goring Gap, and passes close to Avebury before heading south across Salisbury Plain. It also passes very close to a Neolithic chambered long barrow, Waylands Smithy, about a mile to the west.

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1.42 km

Uffington White Horse

Highlight • Monument

Uffington Castle is an exceptionally well-preserved example of an Iron Age hill fort. The White Horse is the oldest chalk-cut hill figure in Britain, too; perhaps over 3,000 years old. From the summit, you are afforded wonderful views.

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1.84 km

Views from White Horse Hill

Highlight • Viewpoint

1.93 km

Uffington Castle Hillfort

Highlight • Summit

On White Horse Hill, this large hillfort dates back to the Iron Age and lies next to the extraordinary Uffington White Horse, a prehistoric chalk figure. Combined, they make for a wonderful site to ramble about. The fort lies on the ancient Ridgeway, Britain's oldest road and numerous other hillforts reside in the area.

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