Heading out alone can feel daunting, especially if you’re new to it.

Where do you go?

How do you know you won’t end up lost, three hours from the car, with the light fading?

This is exactly why I spend so much time thinking about walking routes, not just where they go, but how they feel to walk.

A good route has rhythm. It rises when you need a challenge and settles when you need to breathe. It brings you past something beautiful right when the moment is right.

Here are 3 beginner-friendly walking routes, all close to London, you can use with a hiking app on your phone:

• 5-mile route – Ashridge – Ridgeway Hike
• 5.2-mile route – Chipperfield Loop
• 7-mile route – Hawridge Coffee & Brew Day Hike (near Chesham)

The truth is, solo hiking rewards preparation. When you’re walking with others, someone else might carry the map in their head.

On your own, that responsibility is yours, which is exactly why I’ve been carefully plotting walking routes and turning them into GPX files you can drop straight onto your phone.

If you’ve ever felt that pull to get outside on your own but weren’t sure where to start, here are route GPX files I have carefully plotted for you to use in your mobile phone navigation app.

Digital file for your phone

No paper maps, no second-guessing a junction just open the app and follow the route line.

There’s real freedom in this. Solo walking routes let you set your own pace entirely. Stop for twenty minutes to watch a buzzard circle. Turn back early when you feel like it.

Nobody’s waiting on you, and nobody needs telling why you paused. That’s the gift of doing it alone; the walk becomes yours entirely.

If you’re building confidence for longer or more remote walking routes, start small. Pick a shorter loop, tell someone where you’re headed, and let the GPX file do the navigational thinking.

Again, here are beginner-friendly route GPX files I’ve plotted with care, ready to load up whenever the urge to walk alone finds you.

• 5-mile route – Ashridge – Ridgeway Hike
• 5.2-mile route – Chipperfield Loop
• 7-mile route – Hawridge Coffee & Brew Day Hike (near Chesham)

Solo hiking is awesome when it’s simply well planned. Use the walking routes, trust your instincts, and get out there.

*A Note on GPX File Use
Every GPX file provided has been plotted with care and to the best of our accuracy. However, once downloaded, responsibility for safety, navigation, and route decisions rests entirely with the user. Nature Kicks (a Shameer Shah Project) accepts no liability for the use of these files while navigating a route.