Box Hill is the Surrey Hills' best-known bump, and it earns its fame. The hill rises sharply from the valley of the River Mole to a crest of chalk grassland and ancient box trees, from which the land falls away in a wide view toward the South Downs. It is a National Trust property, and it has been a favourite day out for Londoners since the railway came to Dorking in the nineteenth century. The poet John Keats finished part of Endymion in the inn below the hill, and Jane Austen set a famous picnic scene on its slopes in Emma.
The road up is the Zig Zag, a series of well-graded hairpins that climb the north face, and it is well known among riders and even more among cyclists, who test themselves against it all year round. It was part of the road race route at the 2012 Olympics, which brought a new wave of visitors. The corners are wide and the surface generally good, but they are busy at weekends, with groups of riders and cyclists, so ride carefully and do not overtake on the bends. The cafe at the top is a well-known meeting point.
The nature here is distinctive. Box Hill is one of the few places in Britain where native box grows wild, along with yew and juniper, and the chalk grassland supports orchids and butterflies in early summer. The air is clean and the light on the slopes is soft in the morning. In autumn the beech woods turn gold, and the view over the Weald is at its best after rain, when the haze lifts.
Dorking, about two and a half kilometres away, has about seventeen thousand people and has stations, supermarkets and a good range of cafés, so that is where to fuel. Great Bookham is another option. At the hill itself, the National Trust has a visitor centre and a cafe, but the car park fills early on fine days. If you plan to start here, arrive before nine o'clock on a weekend, when the road is quiet and the riders are only beginning to appear.