Lardon Chase, a short dog walk in Berkshire

This National Trust countryside property, situated on the edge of the Berkshire Downs, offers great views of Streatley village and the Thames Valley and is a good option for a short dog walk in Berkshire.

Although this trail is short, it is of moderate difficulty, given how hilly it is.

Distance	Total Time	Difficulty
2.85 km	00:46	Moderate

I contemplated the full walk described on the National Trust website, but the gang arrived at the location a bit later in the day, so we opted for a shorter version walking only the Lardon Chase area. We intend to go back there and also cover the meadows and the woodlands.

We did go back to the Lardon Chase for the longer walk. You can check the details of the hike here.

The car park is small, but on the plus side, it is free. On the downside though, there was not even one dog waste bin in the whole property, which is a shame.

An important note is that you should use the whole address rather than just the postcode in your GPS. We started with just the postcode and ended up a few miles off in a residential area, so please use “Lardon Chase, The Coombe, Streatley, Berkshire, RG8 9QT”.

Don’t forget to check the post notes at the bottom of the page, with maps, a detailed table about the hike and links to everything mentioned in the post.

The Hike

We started the walk in the car park and went through the Lardon Chase gate. It is quite a remarkable view of Streatley from that point of the walk.

From there, we just followed the path, taking in the view, eventually turning left, passing through a small gate to a different section where animals sometimes graze, although there weren’t any this time around. Dogs are asked to be kept on leash in this area.

Girls and I walked down the hill until we got to another entrance to the site, at which point we turned left again and covered the edge of the property, then again to the left mapping an “eight” shape walk pattern until we crossed another small gate, always following the edge. We then made our way back by going up the hill. This last section was steep and more challenging than I anticipated, or maybe it is just the extra Christmas weight that was making my life difficult.

It’s a nice short walk, we covered it in 46 minutes, but the 120 m of elevation gain did make it a little more difficult than a walk in the park.

If your dog has a good recall (something we really lack with our girls), that area is perfect for letting your pooches run free up and down the hill. 

Our girls loved it, especially the many rabbit holes around, which Pequi inspected very carefully throughout the hike.

We will go back there in the spring or summer to do the full walk, as I mentioned at the start of the post.

Cheers,

Ademar