Planes Cranes and Tunnels GPX Route
A kingfisher under the Heathrow flight path, a Georgian palace, and a WWI tunnel built by German POWs — inside the M25.
Ride Details
- Ride Level: Easy / Green
- Distance: 27km / 16 miles
- Terrain: 87% off-road on well-maintained gravel paths, parkland and canal towpath
- Bike: Any bike
- Includes: GPX file and printable Ride Guide
The Route
Leave Twickenham station, cross the road, and pick up the River Crane where it slips past the old railway yards into a much quieter world. The path soon meets the grander-sounding Duke of Northumberland's River, an irrigation channel cut in Henry VIII's time to feed Syon Park's fountains — the same network still helps keep Heathrow's runways from flooding today. It passes the Stoop and Twickenham Stadium on the way; rugby fans can peel off for the World Rugby Museum.
Osterley Park announces itself with a proper avenue and a Robert Adam facade from the 1760s, all Neoclassical confidence inside. The National Trust has made the park genuinely bike-friendly, right down to a mini MTB loop around the Middle Lake, and the Stable Block café does a decent coffee.
From Osterley the route picks up the Grand Union Canal towards Hayes (an easier start if you're coming from that side, on the Elizabeth line), then threads through what's left of Cranford House — just a stable block and a cobbled courtyard now — into Cranford Park's gravel paths and boardwalk.
The route crosses Hounslow Heath, once the most dangerous stretch of road in England, worked over by highwaymen including Dick Turpin, who robbed coaches bound for Bath and Exeter. Today it's just more gravel path and, with any luck, another glimpse of a kingfisher ducking under the flight path.
A Tunnel That Goes Nowhere
Push through Donkey Wood and you'll hit a long, graffiti-covered tunnel that leads under nothing and comes out at a dead-end railway fence. It's a WWI flood-relief tunnel, built beneath the long-defunct Feltham Marshalling Yards with the help of German prisoners of war — one of those pieces of infrastructure nobody notices until they're standing in it.
Finish
The route loops back to Twickenham station, though if you started from Hayes, that works just as well in reverse.
Start and End Points
Start/Finish: Twickenham Station (Hayes Station, on the Elizabeth line, is an easier alternative start).
Ride Details
- Distance: 27km / 16 miles
- Climb: 33m / 108ft
- Percentage off-road: 87%
- Trail surface: Natural, gravel, canal towpath and cycle paths
- Technical Grade: Green — Easy
- Mudometer: Mostly well-made gravel and towpath, minimal mud, rideable year-round
Is this ride for me?
This is about as flat and unthreatening as our rides get — well-made gravel and quiet lanes throughout, with a couple of short sections where you'll need to dismount and push rather than ride. That, plus the picnic-friendly parks and a genuinely good café at the halfway point, makes it a strong choice for families or anyone easing into off-road riding rather than looking for a technical test.
Read more about our grades here.
Is my bike OK for this ride?
Anything with half-decent tyres will manage this comfortably — hybrid, gravel, MTB, or e-bike.
Nice flat route exploring some well kept secret off road routes around west London. Hard to believe that you can find these amazing tracks within a few miles of Heathrow. From the crazy bike park like dilapidated wooden paths to muddy rooty single track !
Well worth a trip to do.
As always a very well researched ride. Lots to see, all of it interesting. Hidden and unfamiliar gems of west London from the comfort of your bicycle. Dood company, plenty of chat. What more do you need to give you pleasure on a cold January Saturday.