The Exeter Green Circle is a twelve mile route within the boundaries of Exeter.
Divided into five sections the circular pathway includes green countryside valley parks to the pavements of quiet leafy suburbs.
The Alphin Brook Walk
This walk, of about three miles, follows the journey of the Alphin Brook between the top of Dunsford Road hill and the Exeter Ship Canal.
The walk passes a number of thatched cob cottage and a 250 year-old tree reached by a connecting footpath.
The Alphin Brook is home to otters, kingfishers and dippers. Look for tell-tale footprints and otter spraints,
Discover views and locations that are all part of Exeter but which often seem miles from a city.
The Hoopern Valley Walk
The Hoopern Valley Walk is a little over two miles. It winds close to the City Wall and through the centre of St David’s revealing the now dry valley under the Iron Bridge.
Its cast iron sections were brought by sea and canal from South Wales in 1834 at a cost of £9,000. It stands by the former St Anne’s Well Brewery.
It will take you through the University of Exeter’s Streatham Estate with its arboretum.
Near the high point of the route, there are views to the sea in one direction and Dartmoor in another.
These views also take in Duryard Valley Park.
Ludwell Valley Walk
This walk is around three miles long between the Exeter Ship Canal and Whipton Lane.
It explores the Riverside Valley Park, passing over the historic Exeter Ship Canal and the River Exe with its weirs and former mills.
In contrast through the Ludwell Valley Park the walk follows the quiet Northbrook overlooked by sloping meadows.
Quiet roads and lanes link Wonford and Whipton with names that echo the former rural nature of the area such as Sweetbrier Lane and Woodwater Lane.
Highlights of the walk include the Countess Wear Mill. It operated from 1638 to late 19th century as a paper mill, and before that for corn milling.
The Mincinglake Walk
This walk follows the Mincinglake stream between its source in the rolling farmland north of Sylvania Park and on to the former village of Whipton.
The walk includes Mincinglake Valley Park, a former landfill site, now an attractive countryside park with butterfly-rich flower meadows.
There are superb views down the Exe estuary to the sea from viewpoints near the route in the Valley Park.
Just over two miles long this walk lies mostly along footpaths and bridleways.
Mincinglake comes from the old English words for ‘Nun’s lake’ a reference to the ‘Greater Polsloe Pond’, a lake created when the St. Katherines Priory nuns dammed the stream in the 12th century.
The Redhills Walk
The Redhills Walk is about two and a half miles.
It explores the green areas and viewpoints in Redhills and the western fringes of Exeter.
There are one or two steep climbs along this route. Notably between the River Exe flood plain, with its allotments and playing fields, and these leafy hills.
The Millers Crossing bridge over the Exe is one of the highlights of the walk, especially when the river is high. You may see salmon leaping on their way to spawn on Exmoor.