Click here for a zoomable map and the Strava Route
- Distance – 1.9 miles
- Surface –Tarmac paths
- Terrain – Undulating
- Surroundings – Park, woodland
- Traffic Free – Yes (some roads lead to car parks)
A nice nearly 2-mile loop in the Victorian pleasure ground (landscaped area of garden near to a building) in the south-east London suburb of Crystal Palace. The former site of the Crystal Palace Exhibition building, relocated from Hyde Park following the 1851 Great Exhibition, but sadly destroyed by fire in 1936. It’s either going up or down, so a good hill workout.
The Route
The loop route starts at the entrance to the park near Crystal Palace train station and follows an anticlockwise direction. Follow the path around the edge of the park, around the Lower Lake, Dinosaur Park and Visitors Centre. When you are near the TV transmitter, stay right and run across the terrace where the palace used to be, which offers great views over south London.
Public toilets are available at the Visitor’s Centre.
Opening Times
- Monday – Friday: 7.30 am
- Weekends and Bank Holidays: 9.00 am
Closing Times
Times vary throughout the year from 4 pm in the winter to 9 pm in the summer, but also around dusk.
You can check the closing times here.
Getting There – Public Transport
The park is a short walk from Crystal Palace Station or Penge West Station.
Parking
Free parking is available at the Thicket Road and Anerley Hill and Crystal Palace Park Road entrances to the park.
Food and Drink
Brown and Green Life Cafe, housed in a lovely building near the Visitor’s Centre offers breakfasts, butties, lunches, coffee, beer, wine and cocktails!
Parkrun
There’s a parkrun every Saturday at 9 am starting near Thicket Road car park (near the Vistors Centre and Brown and Green Life café)
The Crystal Palace parkrun course page can be seen here.
Other Attractions
The dinosaur park features full-scale models of dinosaurs; there is also a maze, a busy skatepark and children’s playground.
Within the park is the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre containing a gym, swimming pools, diving boards, climbing walls, athletics track, squash courts, and tennis courts. The opening times are –
- Mon – Fri 07:00 – 21:00
- Sat – Sun 09:00 – 17:00
Strava
Click here for the Strava route which you can print or export.