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Beacon Batch summit trig point – Velvet Bottom Nature Reserve loop from Cheddar

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Hiking trails & Routes

Beacon Batch summit trig point – Velvet Bottom Nature Reserve loop from Cheddar

Hard

4.6

(9)

hikers

Beacon Batch summit trig point – Velvet Bottom Nature Reserve loop from Cheddar

06:28

22.3km

570m

Hiking

Hard hike. Very good fitness required. Easily-accessible paths. Suitable for all skill levels. The starting point of the route is accessible with public transport.

Last updated: July 10, 2026

Tips

Your route passes through a protected area

Please check local regulations for:

Mendip Hills National Landscape

Waypoints

Start point

Bus stop

Get Directions

5.71 km

Rowberrow Warren

Highlight • Trail

This tranquil woodland is criss-crossed with hiking and mountain biking trails throughout its hilly landscape. Managed by the Forestry Commission, Rowberrow Warren is a thriving forest and alive with birdsong and wildlife. Vast, you could happily spend a couple of hours exploring the paths here and the Mendip Way traverses the southern section of it.

Tip by

7.10 km

The Swan Inn

Highlight • Parking

The Swan Inn pub and parking for users. Outdoor seating and serves food

Tip by

8.87 km

Dolebury Warren inner wall

Archaeological Site

12.2 km

Black Down Summit and Wild Ponies

Highlight • Natural

Black Down is the highest area of the Mendip Hills and affords wonderful views across the Bristol Channel into Wales, over Weston-super-Mare, the Chew Valley, the Quantocks and beyond. There are many Bronze Age burial sites dotted around. You might also see the wild ponies strutting their stuff.

Tip by

12.9 km

WWII bombing decoy complex

Archaeological Site

13.4 km

Beacon Batch summit trig point

Highlight • Viewpoint

This special site is designated as a Site of Special Scientific interest for its valuable wildlife habitats and is a nationally important site for its archaeology from the late Stone Age and Bronze Age through to the Second World War. Black Down provides the largest area of open access on the Mendip
Hills at over 400 ha.

Black Down, like most heathlands, is formed through a combination of factors– soil type, rainfall and human activity. The underlying Old Red Sandstone rock together with high rainfall created a waterlogged and acidic soil. The removal of tree cover by our Bronze Age ancestors 2,000 years ago helped to make sure that the soil stayed damp and acid. Only certain plants can survive in this type of ground. The key species include heather or ling, bell heather, bilberry, purple moor grass and European gorse, along with mosses and lichens.

Now the bracken is managed by harvesting and grazing by cattle and wild ponies to allow the heathers and grasses to flourish again. Black Down supports a wide variety of birds, mammals, reptiles and invertebrates.

Tip by

16.9 km

Velvet Bottom Nature Reserve

Highlight • Natural

Velvet Bottom is part of the wider Cheddar Complex Sites of Special Scientific Interest which is a network of nature reserves on the Mendip Hills. Each reserve has its own unique character and wildlife. All of the nature reserves are Sites of Special Scientific Interest, which provide protection to the plants and animals found there.

This nature reserve lies on the floor of a dry river valley and is long and narrow in shape. Most of the reserve can be seen from the main path. The 42-acre (17 ha) reserve is mostly rough grassland with small areas of woodland and scrub. The reserve has a long history of lead mining and there is still much evidence to be found of the site’s industrial heritage. Velvet Bottom has been managed by Somerset Wildlife Trust since 1975 and was purchased from the former owners, Bristol Water, in 1998.

Please clean up after your dog on sites on the Mendip Hills AONB to help protect the wildlife and stop grasslands becoming polluted.

Tip by

17.6 km

Velvet Bottom Nature Reserve

Nature Reserve

19.0 km

Black Rock Limestone Outcrop

Highlight • Natural

Black Rock is a limestone outcrop above Cheddar Gorge. There are a few climbing routes here and old lime kilns. This area is owned and managed by the National Trust and part of a nature reserve.

Tip by

19.6 km

Black Rock Steep Rocky Path

Highlight (Segment) • Natural

This might not be so nice, depending on how confident/sure-footed you are, how much it’s rained, or whether you’re going down rather than up!

Tip by

21.0 km

View of Cheddar Gorge and Cheddar Reservoir

Highlight • Natural Monument

At almost 400 feet (122 m) deep and 3 miles (5 km) long, this is England’s largest gorge and, with its weathered crags and pinnacles, one of our most spectacular natural sites. It plays host to a varied community of specialised plants and wildlife. It has been named the ‘finest example of a limestone gorge in Britain’ by the British Geological Survey. It is one of the special qualities of the Mendip Hills Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).
Cheddar Gorge is Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) for wildlife and geology, a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) with five sites of national archaeological importance designated within the Gorge.

Tip by

22.3 km

End point

Bus stop

Way Types & Surfaces

Way Types

11.4 km

5.81 km

2.48 km

1.86 km

756 m

Surfaces

9.01 km

7.18 km

3.56 km

1.81 km

711 m

Elevation

Nothing selected – click and drag below to see the stats for a specific part of the route.

Highest point (320 m)

Lowest point (20 m)

Weather

Monday 13 July

27°C

14°C

0 %

Additional weather tips

Max wind speed: 20.0 km/h

to get more detailed weather forecasts along your route

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Beacon Batch summit trig point – Velvet Bottom Nature Reserve loop from Cheddar

Rowberrow Warren

The Swan Inn

Black Down Summit and Wild Ponies

Beacon Batch summit trig point

Velvet Bottom Nature Reserve

Black Rock Limestone Outcrop

Black Rock Steep Rocky Path

View of Cheddar Gorge and Cheddar Reservoir

Nearby routes

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