Surrey Hills Cycle Trails: Devil's Punchbowl Loop, and Thursley Loop

Having previously completed the Elstead and Frensham Loops, this is my third: the Devil's Punchbowl. Being a completist, I also took the opportunity to tick off the fourth by doing the Eastern leg of the Thursley Loop (the rest of this Loop I have done, since it is formed by the neighbouring Elstead and Frensham Loops). (I have already described a shorter ride around the Devil's Punchbowl in a previous blogpost.)

Here is a GPS track-map (Punchbowl Loop in yellow, Thursley Loop segment in purple)

Starting from my car parked in a layby near Thursley village, I climbed the excellent tarmacced 'Quiet Lane' up to the Punchbowl and around to the NT cafe, having made a short diversion to the Gibbet Hill viewpoint. I then descended the Western 'arm' of the Punchbowl. This is a good track at first, but gets quite rough as it descends: stony at first, then entering into a deep narrow gully.

The route is subsequently shared with the Frensham Loop across Hankley Common, then crosses Thursley Common back to the start. The latter tracks across Thursley Common were very sandy, and largely impossible for me to cycle; similarly, the short arm of the Thursley Loop. I have not yet mastered the art of riding through deep sand.

These loops are an excellent way to see Surrey's heathland, but do be prepared for all that sand, albeit for a relatively short distance. Also, my rides have been during or just after our recent drought and very hot weather: I imagine some parts (the Western arm of the Devil's Punchbowl, for example) will be very muddy in winter. But these are all in a day's work for serious mountain bikers, I guess.

Four down, one to go: the Puttenham Loop.