Grand Union Canal and Beacon Hill from Napton-on-the-Hill

Walk description is not very good specially the number 3 ( last part of the walk)

We enjoyed this walk on a winter afternoon. We cut it slightly short by following the canal for longer rather than taking the left bit of the canal so we'd be back before dark. As reviewers have mentioned, the path off the top by the windmill was a bit tricky to find and was steep, muddy, and slippy. I didn't take walking poles but it would have been handy! Go on a clear day; the views are epic.

Instructions at the start are very confusing at the Windmill, we ended up back at the bottom of the hill further down the canal by following the first footpath, still cant see where we should have gone, pleasant and not strenuous walk around towpaths and fields. The view from Beacon hill is well worth it , even though we nearly ended up in the middle of a shoot. Footpaths not very well marked so the map is very useful.

Great varied walk. Challenging downhill section after windmill due to recent rainfall. Electrified unmarked fence at Calcut Farm beware! We would do this walk again when in this area. Went wrong around Beacon Hill area but found our way eventually. Napton is a beautiful village well worth a visit - cidery and pub!

Enjoyable walk with easy parking in the village.

We made one wrong turn about 1/2 mile after the start after the church on the bridle path we followed a marked right turn when we should have carried straight on - easily corrected.

On passing the marina on the Grand Union we saw about 30 narrow boats subject to the lockdown and have now booked a narrow boat holiday with the company!

Slightly confusing coming through the caravan park near the end - not clearly marked.

Be mindful that the description of this route is whimsical at best. There were times we walked around fields to find an exit that simply wasn’t there. Twice we were led into a bulls paddock.

A beautiful area of the county but probably better to go into a walk mapping website and creating your own route. We had to abandon this walk halfway through and make our own. Some of the instructions made no sense.

Peaceful and varied walk, no one around. Plenty of off the lead time for the dogs. Weather was beautiful so that helped.

Really enjoyed walk, nice variety of terrain. The styles area very boggy due to recent rains which is to be expected . During the Walk saw Barn Owl, Red kite and plenty of pheasants.

Was not able to

used the alternative starting point suggested in the post below.

The path was a bit overgrown near the start, just after the windmill. Many of the styles have now been changed to newer gates, which makes life easier. There is much easier off road parking at point 1 just before you cross the canal, so you may want to start your walk from here (Postcode CV47 8NT). The part next to the canal is flat and easy, so if you want to tackle the hilly part of the walk first, you could do the whole thing the other way round. We skipped point 2 and stayed on the Oxford canal getting off next to a bridge near point 3, to make it a bit shorter.The views from the trig point on Beacon Hill are very good.

A nice walk with friends easy to follow
Canal path , open fields and woodland areas
Interesting plants and views of stately home and deer in park
😎👍

Good directions along this walk. Lots of interest along the canal. The windmill can be seen in the distance on the hill and the village of Napton has some lovely houses with great views.

Good walk. You can get a good coffee and cake at the post office / coffee shop in Napton.

Note, towpath is uneven in places and overgrown.

Many thanks for your feedback on this walk. We have made the changes you suggested to the walk description to improve it for future walkers. Please feel free to post any photos too if you have any

A very enjoyable walk. Please note that whilst the map is clear, At point 2, after leaving the towpath and crossing a field to reach a junction with a bridle way, it might be clearer to say turn right onto the bridleway. In addition at the very end when reaching the lane at grid ref SP472610, the path goes into the campsite and goes to the right of the lake. Once across the next field I was not able to take the left footpath as extremely overgrown. On reaching the byway you cannot cross the next field as they are building houses and I followed the byway back to the main road and starting point.
Parking was okay on the road but there is also parking by the church, although obviously may not be available when church in use. Finally several fields full of cows and their calves. Some of the mothers did not like anyone crossing their field and I had to find an alternative route on one occasion!!!
Overall a very enjoyable walk

Thoroughly enjoyable route, with different terrain and landscapes to enjoy..