County Tops of England: Leicestershire
Bardon Hill: 278 metres (Grid Ref: SK460131)
Route Statistics and Files
Grid Ref: SK457142
Distance: 1.9 miles (3.1 km)
Time: 1 hour
Rating: Easy
Bardon Hill on the Horizon from Appleby Parva (image, courtesy of Wikipedia)
The Walk
The Walk: From the roadside on Greenhill Way walk south on the Ivanhoe Way footpath through a housing estate to reach the north-side of Bardon Hill. The Ivanhoe Way continues south before dog-legging eastwards halfway up the hill. It soon turns to a south course again through woodland and then on heath to the crest of the hill. Once on the crest of Bardon Hill follow a metalled track past a communications mast to the trig pillar which marks the top of Leicestershire. Once this is achieved take in the view before returning to the start of the walk by the same route.
The Walk I Would Do: I would climb up to the county top by the route described but instead of tracking back the way I had came I would follow paths which skirt around the perimeter of the hilltop woodland before returning back along Ivanhoe Way.
Information
Information: Bardon Hill is a hill, and former volcano, in the civil parish of Bardon near Coalville, Leicestershire, England. It the highest point in Leicestershire and the National Forest, 912 feet (278 m) above sea level, and is visible for miles around. The hill has two distinct faces: The east is protected as a site of special scientific interest (SSSI); the west is scarred, and partially removed, by the Bardon Hill Quarry. At its summit is a trigonometrical point, and a radio mast. (Source: Wikipedia)