Outdoors & Nature

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Parkland Walk: Finsbury Park to Highgate

London's longest nature reserve, laid along a railway line that closed in 1970.

2 miles, about an hourWalks & routesWildlifeFree

The old branch line from Finsbury Park to Alexandra Palace, abandoned in 1970 and now a two-mile green corridor running in a cutting well below the streets: hawthorn and bramble grown in over the ballast, disused platforms at Crouch End still standing, and the brick arches of bridges you last crossed on top of. It is a statutory Local Nature Reserve and holds muntjac, foxes and around twenty species of butterfly.

It runs slightly uphill westbound and is unlit, so it is a daylight walk. The tunnels under Highgate are sealed, which is why the line stops there; the northern section from Muswell Hill up to Alexandra Palace is a separate mile and worth adding on.

Where
Oxford Road, Stroud Green, to Holmesdale Road, Highgate
Start
Finsbury Park end — Finsbury Park
End
Highgate end — Highgate

Always open

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Data is compiled from public sources including OpenStreetMap, under the ODbL. Hours change often, so check before making a journey.

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