Cycling The River Lea
Near River Lee Country Park
Part of the Chiltern Rivers Series
River Lea start: Leagrave, Bedfordshire
River Lea end: Leamouth, Greater London
River Lea length: ~42 miles / 68 km
Cycle route start / end: Wardown Park, Luton, Bedfordshire
Cycle route length: ~58 miles / 94 km
Cycle route ascent: +420m / -507m
GPX File: get via Buy Me a Coffee
Other routes touched (walk): Lea Valley Walk, Chiltern Way, Hertfordshire Way, New River Path, Greenwich Meridian Trail, London Loop, Capital Ring, The Greenway, Jubilee Greenway, Regent’s Canal Towpath
Other routes touched (cycle): NCN Routes 1, 12, 57, 6, 61, Chilterns Cycleway, Ayot Greenway
Map: OS Explorer Map (193) Luton and Stevenage, OS Explorer Map (182) St. Albans and Hatfield, OS Explorer Map (174) Epping Forest & Lee Valley, OS Explorer Map (173) London North, The City, West End, Enfield, Ealing, Harrow & Watford
Links: River Lea, Leagrave, Luton, Lee Navigation, Limehouse Basin, Regent’s Canal
It was Easter Saturday and time to start proper training for July's Titanic Ireland cycle adventure. My cycling friends all opted out due to being "broken", "in Germany", "painting" or, strangely, "not fit enough to start training", so I was on my own for this one.
The route is a combination of National Cycle Routes (NCN), starting near the source of the Lea at Luton and ending at Limehouse Basin at the Thames in London. Getting back is easy enough as the Regent's canal takes you from the Basin to St Pancras station where there are frequent trains back to Luton.
The Lea starts in Leagrave, north of Luton. Although NCN 6 passes through it, I opted to start the trip 2.3 miles down at Wardown Park where the river fills a small lake. Its also the venue for Luton Wardown parkrun which, as it was Saturday, had to be done too. If I were to do the trip again I would start at the source as it’s very close to Leagrave Station which is on the same line to St Pancras. This additional section follows the Lea Valley Walk which is a footpath but there’s good options for cycling on nearby roads.
The trip is a nice combination of NCN routes 6, 57, 12, 61 and 1. It's easily navigable with only a small amount of planning and keeping your eyes out for signs along the way. The first 22 miles to Hertford is mostly disused post-Beeching railway lines, with the remainder following the Lea Navigation Canal.
The River Lea joins the Thames near Canning Town, opposite the Greenwich Peninsula. Cycling right to the confluence is tricky so I opted to follow the Limehouse Cut from Bow Creek to the Limehouse Basin. From there I followed the Regent’s Canal back to King’s Cross station to get the train back to Luton where I had parked my car.
Red = course of the River Lea, Blue = Cycle Route including Regent’s Canal to King’s Cross.
Elevation for cycle route