Clare Circular Walks

Clare is an ideal base for exploring the local area by foot.  The River Stour and its valley offer easily-accessible points of interest, such as historic features and wildlife havens.  In contrast, the uplands of ‘High Suffolk’ are but a short climb out of town and reveal our gently rolling landscape and farms.

We are an accredited ‘Walkers are Welcome’ town and information is freely available from various outlets.  Clare Walkers has published 4 series of routes, all of which begin (or end) at Clare Castle Country Park car park:

• Four short circular walks of about 2 miles, taking approx. 60-80 minutes.  They include aspects of the town and the country park and are graded ‘easy’ as they are generally flat and avoid stiles.  You could visit The Common (bequeathed by Catherine of Aragon to the town) or stroll along the ‘New’ Cut, thought to have been dug in the 14th century.
• Six scenic circular walks ranging in distance from 2 to 7 miles. They are rated as ‘intermediate’ as there are occasional styles to climb and agricultural fields to cross.
• Four linear ‘Compass’ walks to specific destinations north, south, east and west of Clare, ranging between 7 and 8 miles.
• The ‘Wool Towns Walk’.  This is a waymarked 50+ mile circular walk joining the medieval wool towns of West and Mid Suffolk: Clare, Sudbury, Hadleigh, Lavenham and Long Melford.    It can be walked in four days of steady walking, or in eight or more linear sections of 5+ miles.

There are three ways you can enjoy a Clare walk:

• On your own armed with a free route guide (available from the Visitor Centre in Clare Castle Country Park, Clare Library and various outlets in the Town). pdf downloads can be found by following this link.
• Turning up at 10.15 on Tuesday morning at The Old Goods Shed in Clare Castle Country Park car park for a roughly 2-mile circular walk with a leader who knows the route. Why not stay afterwards for a coffee/tea and chat with others at Platform One café?  There is no need to book.
• Join a monthly group walk with a leader who knows the walk (c4 to 7 miles) as published on ‘Clare Walkers’ website.

You are assured of a friendly welcome on any of the group walks.