Dunstable Downs

Dunstable Downs is the chalk escarpment where the Chilterns drop away to the Vale of Aylesbury, the highest ground in Bedfordshire and part of the National Trust's Dunstable Downs and Whipsnade Estate. The ridge is chalk grassland, a Site of Special Scientific Interest crossed by the ancient Icknield Way, with the Bronze Age Five Knolls burial mounds at its northern end and the Whipsnade Tree Cathedral a short drive away. Most visitors come for the wind: kites fill the sky on a breezy day, paragliders hang over the slope and gliders from the London Gliding Club below pass at eye level. The Chilterns Gateway Centre holds the View Cafe, a shop and a staffed information hub, and reviewers like the indoor and outdoor seating, the small wood with its carvings and the Saturday morning parkrun. Three waymarked walks start from the centre, from a 1.9-mile all-weather path past the Five Knolls to a 6.5-mile countryside circuit. Tips from visitors: parking is pay and display for non-members, dogs are welcome across the Downs, and the hillside fills with picnickers on a fine summer weekend.