After the success of the first Ten Easy Access Trails, ten more Parish Councils were given the opportunity to create an easily accessible circular walks in their parishes.

The same criteria applied, in that the main focus of the trails was to remove physical barriers such as stiles and replace them with kissing gates and hand gates to make them easier to use by more people.

The co-ordination of the project, the improvements of the paths on the ground and the design of the route guides and maps was by South Gloucestershire Council, but parish councils chose the routes themselves, and compiled the directions and descriptions of interesting points along and near to the walks. Take these with you out on the routes, and look out for the Easy Access waymarks.

The trails were originally published as paper booklets, so here we've reproduced them to download, print or take with you on a mobile device. The booklets are shown separated out: first, information about all walks, then each walk individually.

The second set of parish trails are below. They were: Alveston, Charfield, Downend & Bromley Heath, Marshfield, Pilning & Severn Beach, Siston, Stoke Gifford, Thornbury, Wick & Abson and Wickwar. 

Download a guide for all of the trails mentioned here

Alveston

The walk covers mainly flat ground across surfaced and un-surfaced footpaths. There is a possibility you may encounter some livestock, and the un-surfaced paths may get muddy following a spell of wet weather. The overall distance of the walk is 5Km (3 miles).

Charfield

Charfield is on the Wooton Road between Wotton-under-Edge and Iron Acton (The B4058), and just off of the M5 at junction 14. The walk covers flat ground across livestock free surfaced and un-surfaced footpaths, but could get muddy following a wet spell. The route is 2.4Km (1.5 miles) long.

Downend & Bromley Heath

The trail starts at The Methodist Church, on the Badminton Road (The A432) but can be joined from Downend village and at other places along the way. The route is mainly across livestock free flat surfaced paths, and is easy to walk in all weather conditions. The total length is 5.4Km (3.4 miles)

Marshfield

Marshfield is by the side of the main road between Bristol and Chippenham on the A420. The start of the walk is situated in the market place, at the eastern end of the High Street. The walk gets quite steep in places and the terrain will get muddy following a spell of wet weather (remember to wear suitable footwear and waterproofs). You may encounter livestock in some of the fields the paths cross. There are three walks to choose from varying in lengths of 4km(2.5 miles), 5.6Km(3.5 miles) and 7.2Km(4.5 miles).

Pilning & Severn Beach

The walk covers mainly flat ground across surfaced and un-surfaced footpaths. There is a possibility you may encounter some livestock, and the un-surfaced paths may get muddy following a spell of wet weather. The route is 4.8Km (3 miles) long.

Siston

This is an easy route, with reasonable gradients, mostly over hard surfaces and passable most of the year. The short walk is 4.6km (2.8 miles) long, and the longer route is 6km(3.7 miles) long. There are horses in some of the fields on the longer route.

Stoke Gifford

Stoke Gifford is situated near the M32 and the A4174 is just off junction one. The walk covers flat ground across livestock free surfaced and un-surfaced footpaths, but could get muddy following a wet spell. The route is 5.45 km long (3.39 miles).

Thornbury

The trail starts at The Plain facing the Town Pump. Park in Castle Court car park, or take a bus to Thornbury High Street. The walk is livestock free and mainly on surfaced paths. The route is 3.7km (2.3 miles) long.

Wick & Abson

The walk gets quite steep in places and the terrain will get muddy following a spell of wet weather (remember to wear suitable footwear and waterproofs). You may encounter livestock in some of the fields the paths cross. There are three stiles on this route that can be avoided by following the alternative route along Church Road. Not accounting for the trails within the Golden Valley Nature Reserve, the main route is 4.4Km (2.7 miles) long.

Wickwar

The walk covers mainly flat ground across unsurfaced footpaths. You should expect to walk through fields that contain livestock and the paths will be muddy following wet weather. The full route is 4.1km (2.5 miles) long. There are two stone stiles on this route that can be avoided by following the alternative routes shown in the guide. 

Note that we have not checked routes for accuracy or suitability unless clearly stated. Use of the routes is at your own risk.

If you find any problems on any of these routes, it is very helpful if you can report this to us using our interactive map. Please note you will need to register/log in before reporting an issue - thank you!