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Name:Dunstable Downs
Hill number:5389
Height:243m / 797ft
Parent (Ma):2874  Wendover Woods [Haddington Hill]
RHB Section:39: Central and Eastern England
County/UA:Central Bedfordshire
County (CoH):Bedfordshire (CoH)
County (CoA):Bedfordshire (CoA)
Catchment:Catchment Boundaries, Thames, Wash
Watershed:The Wash, Ardnamurchan Point to Lowestoft, Lowestoft to Duncansby Head, Greater Thames Estuary
Class:Hump, Tump (200-299m), Historic County Top, Current County/UA Top, Administrative County Top,
Clem
(Hu,Tu,2,CoH,CoU,CoA,Cm)
Grid ref:TL 00881 19426
Summit feature:trig point
Drop:105m
Col:138m  SP990164  
OS map sheet(s):(1:50k) 166
(1:25k) 181 182
Observations:ground 30m ESE at field edge is lower
Survey:Abney level
GPS data:show GPS entries for this hill
Notes:
  • Bedfordshire (1974) administrative county top
  • Bedfordshire historic county top
  • Central Bedfordshire current county/UA top

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N.B. Some hill summits are on private property or on land where there is no public right of way.  Permission should be sought from the landowner where access to a hill summit is through private land.
Please report via the contact page any logs you see below which describe or encourage acts of trespass.  Please quote the hill number and hill name.

Logged Descriptions  (logged by 356 users, only the latest 50 shown - Show all)ByDate of Ascent
Dunstable Downs parkrun eventCumbriancyclist30/12/2023
Parked in the Downs NT car park. Trig point at the gate. Better view from beyond the cafe.LizH18/08/2023
From Dunstable across the golf course. Continued on along Icknield Way to Beacon Hill then Ridgeway to Tring.burwellian09/06/2023
With L & RJanet M19/03/2023
With HS, VP and MR. From Pipers Croft, via Five Knolls, then on to the Tree Cathedral and back via the foot of the escarpment.Mark Jackson04/03/2023
Quick Bag From Car Park.Jephcote8329/12/2022
Quick Bag From Car Park.Ivy Jephcote29/12/2022
Quick Bag From Car Park.Iris Jephcote29/12/2022
Walk around the downs in the snow, circular route to Whipsnade Tree Cathedral at dusk.catie17/12/2022
Done in the mist at one in the morning, though I did at least get some reasonable enough views from here in the morning.Alex C20/09/2022
Headed for the carpark to the Visitor Centre which was closed by the time we got there but we spotted the trig by the locked gate. This must be the easiest top to bag.RowanP17/08/2022
From Dunstable, walked up Buttercup Lane and across the golf course. Summit clearly marked with trig point. Attractive views to the north and west on a clear day; overall a nice little county top if not much of a challenge.hillbagger9116/06/2022
With MS, HS and SS. From Pipers Croft, via Five Knolls, then on to the Tree Cathedral and back via the foot of the escarpment.Mark Jackson02/06/2022
Very Easy ParkingAlanAdeptly05/04/2022
With AW, VP, JD and AH. From Pipers Croft, via Five Knolls, then on to the Tree Cathedral and back via the foot of the escarpment.Mark Jackson17/01/2022
Stayed the night in Dunstable with my cousin to do Dunstable Downs the next day before heading home. An easy but dull county top with damp weather. Unfortunately, pretty forgetable now but a good cafe on top.DavidHiner10/11/2021
Dunstable Downs from GR: TL 00896 19379 NT car parkronaldo33328/08/2021
Dunstable Downs from GR: TL 00896 19379Hippster28/08/2021
Parked at the NT car park and walked to the trig point to bag the top. Stunning views from the top.cjwilliams23/07/2021
V straightforward bag. Parked at NT car park, short walk to Gateway Centre. Trig point behind building adjacent to centre entrance. Continued walk on NT land, finding interesting Tree Cathedral after 20 minutes. Worth a visit.timbo9925/06/2021
Last summit of the day and one with a view north. Well worth a visit on a clear day.pclyndes11/06/2021
Parked at Whipsnade Heath car park and ran over via edge.Wheelsy06/06/2021
35km cycling loop with GFE from Ashridge. Thought I’d missed the trig but the NT sign hides it from one angle so all the more exciting when we found it. Kite flying weather.Fionalevey25/04/2021
From NT CP visited Trig and had a wander along the downs. Nothing to see as freezing cold and MistyJephcote8328/12/2020
Nice 8k loop run from NW inc 150m ascent - couldn’t do a 0m high hill. Good to see all the families kite flying on an early Autumn daydavechaffey12/09/2020
With the household during semi-lockdown. Drove to park in Pipers Croft near Five Knolls as the main car parks were still shut. Along the ridge to the summit and back along the western base of the escarpment. Lovely to be out again!Mark Jackson16/05/2020
With my brother Jon and my grandad Jon Glew.williamglew08/02/2020
Wandered around likely HPs around CP.maclrc11/01/2020
Short loop from visitor centre taking in the tree cathedral.squeegs29/12/2019
2 of 6 on 26 mile bike ride. joined the icknield way trail from the b4540 which turned into the chiltern way to reach the visitor centre and trigThe-Z-Man31/07/2019
Walk with Suzannedc9623/06/2019
Easy walk from the car park. Beautiful weather and very busy with people of all ages enjoying the sunshine after so much rain recently.ThomasJoseph21/06/2019
On own. From Dunstable Downs National Trust car park walked back to entrance and trig point. Bedfordshire historic county top added to my list. Then had a stroll over to the windcatcher sculpture (captures the air from the hill naturally and delivers it into the Gateway Centre building through a 90 m long underground concrete 'earth pipe'). Continued along ridge past beacon and popped into Gateway Centre for a cuppa. Easy bag. Great views. Done.Beeliner22/03/2019
28km Loop from Studham in damp but not altogether horrible conditions.atreides788703/03/2019
Beautiful unusually warm February day. Found trig point at car park entrance then had enjoyable walk across the downs watching the gliders.Eliza10027/02/2019
Parked in NT car park. GPS said I was parked in exactly the right place! Got out, had a bit of a wander.jedthehumanoid24/02/2019
Walked in a loop with Miles and Jack.peter_tun19/01/2019
2nd top of 4 today and this the 2nd of a 3 hill route from Dunstable to Leighton Buzzard, climbing Blow Down and then through 'Downside and woodland paths near Kensworth Quarry to meet road leading to the Trig Pillar. I explored the grassy verge to the SE as it looked higher. Had a quick drink and flapjack in the Cafe before admiring the great views from the path before heading steeply down to pass a Gliding Club then a shooting club and the long traverse to Billington...Dazingdale13/01/2019
Walked up from the roundabout to make it seem like some sort of effort. Nice views.Andrew Pearson24/12/2018
Quick walk from CP with B and R.jenx09/12/2018
With Jenx and Bryher from the CP, got out this time to get photo of dog on trig!nordicstar12/09/2018
From nearby car park to summit then a stroll around the area.dgresty28/08/2018
Took a slight detour to Dunstable Downs to finish off a nice few days away with family. Easy stroll to the trig point from the car park. Stayed for a few minutes to admire the views and watch the kite flying.Gerry the Ranger04/08/2018
Scenic little stroll on a beautiful sunny morning. Another county top down!jkl23/07/2018
Took the opportunity to drive to this one on the way back from Download festival. Paid £3 to park and wandered around taking in the views on a beautiful day. A couple of gliders were up from the club below.Buck11/06/2018
Solo.Dangerous Dave17/02/2018
Parked in the carpark stroll over to the trigjmistry8626/01/2018
High point is near to trig, which is at the roadside, by the entrance to the NT carpark and pleasant Visitor Centre. However, as it costs £3 for non NT members to park, we drove north and then walked back along the ridge. The fog was so thick I had to wear a head torch for Richard to see me when using his Abney level to determine the actual HP. Some strange looks from others !Denise 15/11/2017
Huge NT car park free until 10:00. Ridge in cloud so no views this morning. I thought the track on the grassy ridge SW of the trig point was slightly higher than base of trig - but there we go.RichardM15/11/2017
To the trig point next to the main car park.mapple29/06/2017