DARLAND BANKS
Darland Banks
Gillingham, Kent
Introduction
Darland Banks is managed by the Kent Wildlife Trust this 43 hectares of chalk grassland, scrub and woodland makes a great walk any time of the year. The south facing slopes show off the panoramic views across Medway and are home to wide range of wildlife species and occassionally cows are left to graze.
The paths that traverse the slopes are mainly single track an can be uneven and steep whilst he main path along the top of the slopes and the woodland are fairly flat and managable for most people.
Darland banks has numerous access points if visiting by foot otherwise there are two entrances that have parking available and details are available below.
360 Panorama
Darland Bank Woods
Parking Location
Address: Hoath Close, Gillingham, Kent, ME8 0SH
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Address: Darland Avenue, Gillingham, Kent, ME7 3AS
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General Information
- Free Parking
Distance: Various, Depends on chosen walk / route but you can easily do a 4Km walk as you can see from the map below.
Time: Various, Depends on chosen walk / route. Typically around an hour to cover the whole area.
Terrain: Mixture of woodland and grassland set on the side of the valley. Footpaths are unmade and can be steep in places but most are fairly flat and traverse the valley.
Accessible: Unfortunatley this location doesn’t have any hard surfaced pathways suitable for push chairs or wheel chairs.
Stiles: Kissing gates only
Dogs on lead? : Dogs allowed off lead. Fenced areas but may not be dog proof. Cattle and Exmoor ponies sometimes graze at various times of the year. Look out for signs.
Dog Bins: Available at the entrances.
Parking: There is a small parking bay at the entrance located in Hoath Close off Hempstead Road plus road side parking and another small parking bay at the top of Darland Avenue (ME7 3AS).
The Route
Click the walk title in the top right of the above window or clicking here will open the route on the AllTrails website or the mobile app. You can then create a free account which will then allow you to follow the route as you walk on your mobile. If you would rather not sign up to All trails free account and use another mapping app (such as OS Maps, Outdooractive or Komoot etc) on your phone then you can download the GPX file below and import this into your desired app inorder to follow the trail.
The Walk Details ...
If you are parking or entering from Hoath Close you can access the Banks directly where you park. If you fancy some woodland you can walk back up towards the roundabout and access Ambley Wood via the kissing gate.
The route mapped out above takes in both sections of the Darland Banks and is shown to give you an idea of how far you can go on your walk but with numerous footpaths and tracks all over the Darland Banks you can take a different path every time you go and enjoy exploring . The reserve is mainly fenced if you have gone through a metal kissing gate but watchout for grazing cattle and the roads near Hoath Close can be quite busy. Star Lane that runs along the bottom of Darland Banks is only used for access so you can also make this lane part of your walk as long as you watch out for the occasional car.
The Gallery ...
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