The Thames Downs Link connects the Thames Path at Kingston upon Thames to the North Downs Way at Westhumble. It is a 15 mile walking route using mainly public rights of way, with some sections along pavements in more urban sections.
The route is mainly flat, but not entirely accessible to wheelchairs and buggies. There are various rail stations along the route, which means it can be walked in shorter sections as a Rail to Ramble route. The stations are Kingston, Malden Manor, Berrylands, Ashtead and at the end, Boxhill and Westhumble.
Follow the route on Google maps on your smartphone
The Thames Down Link route is available to follow on Google maps on your smartphone, and includes points of interest along the way, plus refreshment stops. You will need to have the Google maps app for Android or iOS and be registered with Google to follow the route.
Distinctive waymarking
The route is waymarked with a distinctive blue and green logo, and is regularly checked and maintained with the help of volunteers from the Lower Mole Partnership. Sections of the route are also used by other signposted walks, such as the London Loop, the Chessington Countryside Walk and Epsom and Ewell's Round the Borough Hike and Bike route.
The route was created in the 1990s by the Lower Mole Partnership on behalf of three of its supporting partners, the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, Epsom and Ewell Borough Council and Mole Valley District Council. The aim of creating the route was to ensure that people living in urban areas could have access to both the wider countryside and to the larger public open spaces on the urban fringe, with all the health, wellbeing and educational benefits that brings.
The route links large areas of public open space including the Hogsmill Open Space in Kingston, Horton Country Park Local Nature Reserve in Epsom and Ewell and Ashtead Common National Nature Reserve in Mole Valley.