On this page are 3 variations of the full White Horse Round route. All offer a more manageable length (especially for single day efforts), and one offers a start point much further north, in Gloucestershire.
If you find these useful, please consider donating to the Great Western Air Ambulance Charity. Any contribution will be very gratefully received.
White Horse Round South
Bradford-on-Avon start
77.5 miles, 4150ft climbing – approx 52% off-road
White Horse South follows the main route identically for over 45 miles, with the full Salisbury Plain experience. After the descent from Cherhill Down it turns west on the fast and flowing NCR403, following disused railway lines through Calne and Chippenham. Beautiful open landscapes lead to the stunning village of Biddestone and a climb up an old coaching road to North Wraxall and the Fosse Way. Then it’s the main route back to the start again.
White Horse Round Mid
Bradford-on-Avon start
73 miles, 3500ft climbing – approx 55% off-road
This route variant cuts out the Imber/Salisbury Plain section and goes out much further along the Kennet & Avon canal, past the remarkable flight of locks at Caen Hill, before picking up the main WHR route. It leaves it again before Avebury, taking the excellent gravel Yatesbury Lane and then a remote descent to Broad Town, on the way to Royal Wootton Bassett, with excellent views of the Broad Town white horse. A road section leads to the fine Somerford Common and Ravensroost Wood byways, before swinging west to pick up the Fosse Way west of Crudwell. Then it’s the main route once again back to Bradford-on-Avon.
White Horse Round North
Kemble (Gloucestershire) start
78 miles, 3070ft climbing – approx 40% off-road
This heads out from the same start point as the Cotswolds-based Kemble Round, but soon veers off to do arguably the best bit of The Fosse Way, to the more intricate off-road sections through Castle Combe. It then reverses the central section of the White Horse Round Mid route (above) through Biddestone, Chippenham and Calne. And it carries on to Avebury, The Ridgeway, Cricklade, and the Cotswold Water Park. A short north-ward extension returns to Kemble via villages south of Cirencester.