The North Downs Way National Trail is a long-distance path in southern England, opened in 1978. It runs from Farnham to Dover, past Godalming, Guildford, Dorking, Merstham, Otford and Rochester, along the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and Kent Downs AONB.
East of Boughton Lees, the path splits in two, the northern section running via Canterbury and the southern via Wye; at this stage the path crosses the Stour Valley Walk and passes the Wye Crown. The two sections of the path reunite at Dover. The northern route is 211 km long, and the southern route 201 km, the total length of the North Downs Way being 246 km (153 miles).
The pathway is mixed-category in that it varies throughout length from footpath (around 48%) status to bridleway, byway and road. Some 19% of the Way follows roads, though 75% of those are minor lanes.
The path (east of Boughton Lees, the southern section) runs along the ridge of the North Downs hills, and roughly follows the Pilgrims' Way path used by many pilgrims to Canterbury in the Middle Ages.
As the pathway runs through the downland, the trails and surrounding countryside are characterised by chalk-based soil and calcareous grassland with livestock grazing on the down slopes and clay soil and crop agriculture predominant in the valleys.
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—Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1845)
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