What is the history of The Ridgeway trail?

History. For at least 5,000 years travellers have used the Ridgeway. The Ridgeway provided a reliable trading route to the Dorset coast and to the Wash in Norfolk. The high dry ground made travel easy and provided a measure of protection by giving traders a commanding view, warning against potential attacks.



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THE Ridgeway is the oldest continuously used road in Europe, dating back to the Stone Age. Situated in southern England, built by our Neolithic ancestors, it's at least 5,000 years old, and may even have existed when England was still connected to continental Europe, and the Thames was a tributary of the Rhine.

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The Great Stones Way and its extension will complete the ancient Ridgeway route across Wessex, and its epicentre at Avebury and Stonehenge, from the north Norfolk coast to the Channel coast in Dorset.

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About the Trail Popularly known as 'Britain's oldest road', The Ridgeway still follows the same route over the high ground used since prehistoric times by travellers, herdsmen and soldiers.

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While wild camping is technically not legal in most parts of England, the National Trails website suggests that most landowners along The Ridgeway won't mind you camping as long as you're a respectful camper (ask the landowner for permission, pitch near sundown and depart by sunrise, start no fires, leave no trace).

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Walking the Ridgeway is an absolutely magical experience—the trail feels so remote and removed from normal life. It's like this liminal place that exists out of time, which is easy to imagine due to the wealth of ancient sites along the route. The Ridgeway is a modern National Trail, established in 1972.

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As you can imagine, most guidebooks are set up for hikers for walking The Ridgeway from the more popular direction: west to east. I think I was the only Ridgeway walker going from east to west, and I much preferred it that way. It was exciting to end in the Avebury area, which is one of my favorite places on earth.

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From west to east, the four Iron Age hillforts along the Ridgeway are: Barbury Castle, Liddington Castle, Uffington Castle, and Letcombe Castle. Before you get too excited at the idea of visiting these ancient “castles,” remember: these are earthworks, not stone constructions.

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The Great Pyramid. The Great Pyramid, the largest of the Pyramids of Giza, is the only Great Wonder still standing.

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Lying some 150km west of London in the Wiltshire countryside, Stonehenge is perhaps the world's most awe-inspiring ancient stone circle. Older than the Great Pyramids and the Roman Empire, the origin of its story began some 9,000 years ago.

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Originally built in 1819 by Ethan Allen Crawford and his father, Abel, Crawford Path is the oldest continuously used and maintained recreation trail in America. Its appeal derives from the fact that its 8.5 miles of mountainous ridgeline travel converges with the famed Appalachian Trail.

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The Appalachian National Scenic Trail — commonly known as the Appalachian Trail or simply “the A.T.” — is the longest hiking-only footpath in the world, measuring roughly 2,190 miles in length.

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Google is celebrating the Appalachian Trail today (October 2) by dedicating its home screen to the 2,190-mile footpath that spans across 14 US states. The description reads: “The Appalachian trail is the longest hiking-only footpath in the world, and has served sightseeing hikers for nearly 100 years.

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The De Vargas Street House, often referred to as the Oldest House, is a historic building in Santa Fe, New Mexico, which is often said to be one of the oldest buildings in United States.

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