Cheltenham Racecourse and Cleeve Hill

Sean Meek

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Cheltenham Racecourse is the home of National Hunt Racing and the Cheltenham Gold Cup every March. It has a scenic location in a natural amphitheatre, with the highest point in the Cotswolds on Cleeve Hill towering over it.

The walk starts from the small village of Prestbury, which is close to the racecourse. It begins by completely encircling the racecourse and then after a short walk across fields, the climb to the top of Cleeve Hill begins, which is broken into two parts due to a sheer vertical cliff blocking the route up. From the top, the Cotswold Way is followed across Cleeve Common, where there are breathtaking views down on the racecourse, Cheltenham and beyond.

Though it may be tempting to attempt this walk on a race day, the paths around the racecourse will inevitably be very busy and be warned that the path is quite narrow in one section, as it is squeezed between the racecourse and a stream.

The walk can be very easily shortened to cover just one of its two attractions.

England - South West England - Gloucestershire - Cotswolds

Features

Birds, Church, Great Views, Hills or Fells, Pub, Public Transport, Wildlife, Woodland

01/07/2013 - Noel and Lesley Johnson

Superb! Walked on 30.6.13. Weather was good so views from Cleeve Hill were great, with the bonus of Steam Trains and the Red Arrows.

09/09/2012 - Ian Mapp

One of the best walks that I have completed this year. I had the weather, there are a load of geocaches on route, there are some stunnning views and great, mainly stile free, walking. Loved it. Thanks. Some photos at http://mappiman.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/090912-character-building.html