Hunstanton to Ringstead Cycling: Off-road Rides

This route takes you over the hills which overlook Hunstanton, Holme-next-the-Sea and Heacham using quiet green lanes and farm tracks which wind through a quiet, open, landscape. The 16 mile route is challenging due to the rough nature of the off-road sections. Allow approximately 4 hours to complete the ride. Approximately 35% is off-road, on a mix of byways and unclassified roads with soft surfaces which are easy to cycle along during dry and dusty summer months, but which become more challenging after periods of rain. The route requires either mountain or hybrid cycles.

When you are cycling along some of the tracks, particularly Green Bank, an east to west aligned track on the line of the Ringstead and Holme parish boundary, you can appreciate fine views over the rolling, open farmland which slopes down to the coastal plain to the north and up the slightly higher land to the south. It is easy to understand why this track is considered to be a prehistoric Ridgeway. The ride skirts the edge of Hunstanton Park that was formerly a medieval deer park, greatly enhanced during the 17th and 19th centuries producing the landscape visible today. A short diversion towards the end of the ride (10) takes you to St Mary’s Church in the grounds of Hunstanton Park, one of the largest churches in this part of Norfolk. Ringstead Downs Nature Reserve is the largest remaining area of unimproved chalk grasslands left in Norfolk. There are wonderful views from this nature reserve.