Epsom has more footpath per square kilometre than 9 in 10 UK towns
Footpaths add up to 141 km in the town and the kilometre around it, 4.8 for every square kilometre. Parks and playing fields in Epsom add up to 5.7 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. The Surrey Hills National Landscape begins 2.2 mi from the town’s edge. Epsom grades A for the outdoors: #12 of 65 in Surrey. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Epsom’s strongest suit is dense footpaths, followed by plenty of park space.
Outdoors grade
Epsom grades A for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Epsom, the dashed line the typical town. The number is the share of towns it beats; the five are averaged and the average ranked again.
A
Better than 90% of UK towns#12 of 65 in Surrey · 5th of 60 UK towns its size
Public green space5.7 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
90out of 100
A park within a walk80%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
48out of 100
National Park or National Landscape2%of the land within 5 km
65out of 100
Footpaths4.8 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
91out of 100
The sea0%of the area within 5 km · Inland
42out of 100
Graded, never part of the overall grade (like History and Civic life). It measures what is mapped: OS Open Greenspace leaves out woodland and open-access land that isn’t a park, and OpenStreetMap’s rural paths are more complete in some places than others.
Towns its size
Epsom is 5th of 60 UK towns its size for the outdoors
The 60 UK towns and cities of 32,500 to 39,600 people with an Outdoors Grade. Hover a dot for its figures; tap one for its page.
Outdoors score: the share of UK towns each one beats
Footpath, km per km²
Epsom4.8
Towns its size3.9
Surrey towns4.3
All UK towns3.0
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Epsom5.7
Towns its size2.5
Surrey towns3.1
All UK towns2.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Epsom80%
Towns its size85%
Surrey towns75%
All UK towns83%
Against towns its size, Epsom stands out most for park space per resident: only 1 of the other 59 has more.
The biggest is Horton Country Park, 191 ha (472 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
All 13 named parks by size: 246 ha (608 acres) and 25 km of path
Parks & gardens 227 haPlaying fields 19 ha
The two biggest, Horton Country Park and Long Grove Park, are 86% of the named green space and carry 16 km of path between them. 4 of the 13 are under 2 ha: small gardens, play spaces and pitches.
8 in 10 Epsom residents live within a 5-minute walk of a park
Each square is 1 in 100 residents: green lives within 400 m of a public park, garden or playing field (Census 2021 output areas against OS Open Greenspace).
Within 400 m (80%)Further (20%)
Epsom80%
Towns its size85%
Surrey towns75%
All UK towns83%
About 7,000 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 38 playgrounds are mapped in and around the town, about one for every 944 residents.
National Parks & National Landscapes
The Surrey Hills National Landscape is 2.2 mi away
Protected landscapes within 30 km, by direction and distance from the edge of the built-up area; circle size shows each one’s area. National Landscapes were called Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty until 2023.
National ParkNational LandscapeThe 5 km the grade counts
National Landscape
Surrey Hills
2.2 mi south-west422 km²since 19582% of the land within 5 km
2% of the land within 5 km of Epsom is National Park or National Landscape, more than 65% of UK towns.
Footpaths & waymarked walks
7 waymarked walks pass through or near Epsom
141 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Epsom and the kilometre around it, 4.8 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0). Bars show each route’s kilometres within 2 km of the town.
RegionalLocal
Thames Down Link11.6 km
Chessington Countryside Walk8.4 km
Hogsmill Valley Walk3.4 km
London LOOP (Section 8)3.3 km
Town and Down Circular Walk2.3 km
London LOOP (Section 7)2.2 km
LOOP link to Ewell West station0.5 km
Close to home, the Chessington Countryside Walk has 8 km of local walk within 2 km of the town. 4 regional routes pass through, including the Thames Down Link, London LOOP (Section 8), London LOOP (Section 7) and LOOP link to Ewell West station.
Waymarked walks are OpenStreetMap walking routes. Public rights of way are only as complete as the map in each area.
History along the way
History inside Epsom’s parks
Historic England’s register of parks and gardens, and the listed buildings and scheduled monuments that stand inside Epsom’s named parks.
Park with listed buildings
Horton Country Park
191 ha. 3 listed structures and monuments stand inside it or at its edge.
IICoal Tax Post to West of West Park HospitalIIGranary at Long Grove FarmIIWest Park Farmhouse
A listed building or monument counts when it sits inside the park’s OS Open Greenspace outline (to about 15 m), so a few at the boundary are included. Historic England, National Heritage List for England.
When to get out
The best walking months in Epsom: May to September
The town’s 1991–2020 averages (Met Office HadUK-Grid) and the daylight at its latitude. Outlined months have 12½+ hours of daylight, highs of 15 °C or more and little rain for the town.
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Daylight (h)
8.3
9.9
11.7
13.8
15.6
16.6
16.2
14.6
12.5
10.6
8.8
7.9
High (°C)
8
9
11
15
18
21
23
23
20
15
11
9
Rain (mm)
67
49
41
45
46
50
49
55
53
73
73
68
March is the driest month (41 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 23 °C). Winter days are short, about 8 hours of daylight in December, and 73 mm of rain falls in October, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 42 nights a year. The climate in Epsom →
Things to do
3 viewpoints, 38 playgrounds and the nearest beaches
Mapped within 2 km of the town in OpenStreetMap, against the typical UK town its size per resident. Named places are listed with directions; unnamed ones are only counted.
Epsom grades higher for the outdoors than every neighbour in the table.
Questions about the outdoors in Epsom
What is the biggest park in Epsom?
Horton Country Park, 191 ha (472 acres), with 12.9 km of path. Long Grove Park (20 ha) is second. 13 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the town or within 400 m of it.
Is Epsom near a National Park?
The nearest protected landscape is the Surrey Hills National Landscape, 2.2 mi south-west of the town’s edge. It covers 422 km² and was designated in 1958.
What are the best walks near Epsom?
7 waymarked walking routes pass within 2 km of the town, including the Thames Down Link, Chessington Countryside Walk and Hogsmill Valley Walk. Horton Country Park alone has 12.9 km of path.
What is the nearest beach to Epsom?
Hog Hole, 9.2 mi from the edge of the town, then The Hollows (9.3 mi). Epsom itself is inland.
How many people in Epsom live near a park?
80% of residents live within 400 m, about a 5-minute walk, of a public park, garden or playing field (Census 2021 output areas against OS Open Greenspace). The typical UK town is 83%.
When is the best time of year for walking in Epsom?
May to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Is Epsom good for walking?
For paths, yes: 4.8 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 91% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 90% (5.7 ha per 1,000 residents).
How is the Outdoors Grade worked out?
From five measures, each placed among UK towns of 1,000 or more: public green space per resident, the share living near a park, National Park or National Landscape within 5 km, footpaths per square kilometre, and the sea within 5 km. It is a character grade and isn’t part of Epsom’s overall grade.
National Parks and National Landscapes: Natural England and Natural Resources Wales boundaries, areas and designation dates, Open Government Licence v3.0.
Photo: Colin Smith · CC BY-SA 2.0