Rights of Way

The Rights of Way Group (ROWG) represents the Chiltern Society’s interest in all matters relating to enjoyment of public rights of way and access in the Chilterns, particularly by walkers, horse riders and cyclists. The Group concerns itself with nearly 5000 footpaths, bridleways and byways in the Chilterns. With approximately 2,500 miles of Chiltern pathways, our objective is to keep paths open and in good condition, to improve the network of paths where possible and to encourage use of all paths and open access land so that people can enjoy the Chiltern countryside.

Our team of dedicated volunteers help to ensure that the paths are kept in good condition; our path representatives and area secretaries are responsible for monitoring paths and taking steps to ensure that problems with the network are resolved, whilst our path maintenance volunteers carry out the practical conservation work to keep the paths tidy on behalf of local authorities.

Using paths considerately

Many of us are regular users of the footpaths, bridleways and other Rights of Way that cross the Chilterns. The vast majority of users comply with the law and enjoy rights of way in a manner that does not diminish the pleasure and safety of others, but a very small minority abuse the path network and put our safety at risk. Please read our Considerate Use document to help us ensure that paths are used fairly!