High Weald Landscape Trail

High Weald Landscape Trail
A scene along the High Weald Landscape Trail towards Wittersham
Length	90 mi (145 km)
Location	East and West Sussex, and Kent England
Trailheads	Horsham - Rye
Use	Hiking

The High Weald Landscape Trail (HWLT) is a 145-kilometre (90 mi) route in England between Horsham, West Sussex and Rye, East Sussex, designed to pass through the main landscape types of the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). It does not follow the highest ground, and the eastern section is only a few feet above sea level. It keeps to the northern edge of the High Weald except in the west where it runs close to the southern edge for a short distance.

The HWLT is not a National Trail within the meaning of the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949, but a trail of regional importance supported by the High Weald Forum and local authorities in East and West Sussex, and Kent. The route is well signposted except a few places, and is marked on the Ordnance Survey Explorer Maps 134, 135, 136 and 125. It follows public rights of way and roads with the occasional permissive path.

The geology is alternating sandstones and clays, and the latter can be very muddy in wet conditions so boots are a must except in very dry weather. Some sections become very overgrown in summer with nettles and brambles so shorts are not advisable.

The official description of the route, and the landscapes it passes through, are described an online guide available from the High Weald AONB website (see external links) which was updated in 2013. The original guide, "Along and Around the High Weald Landscape Trail"., is long out of print.

The route is divided into seven sections, each of which starts and ends in a small town or village and can be walked in a day. Each of the seven sections lies predominantly in one of the areas into which the High Weald AONB is subdivided, each having its own dominant landscape (the route does not pass through Ashdown, the Southern Slopes or the Upper Rother areas). The first two sections are in West Sussex in the Western High Weald Area.