The Three Towers Hike is a Scouting-organised, downland hiking competition held annually in early spring, covering footpaths in West Berkshire and South Oxfordshire. It is organised by a team of scout leaders from Reading Central, Loddon, Taceham Hundred and Pang Valley Scout Districts, all of which are within the Scout County of Royal Berkshire of the Scout Association. It is a competitive event, without an overnight camp (although teams must be equipped to bivouac if the conditions are severe enough to warrant it). It was first held as a senior event (Walkers over the age of 18) but now includes three other age groups.

Scheduling

The hike usually takes place on the second or third Saturday in April, but this may vary depending on the timing of Easter. The event accepts registration from 1 November the previous year. Following Covid the first return of the event is scheduled for 14 October 2023.

History

The first Three Towers Hike took place during the 1970s, when only the Senior event was available. Originally, based around the North and West of Reading, the hike gets its name from the three large water towers that were passed. In the 1980s, the route was significantly altered to include more rural paths in West Berkshire and South Oxfordshire. Since its beginning, the Hike has run every year with few exceptions, the most notable being in 2001 due to Foot and Mouth concerns and 2020-3 due to the Covid Pandemic. Officially not against the hike rules at the time, one team on the 2002 Junior Event swam across the River Thames during the race after finding themselves several miles up stream of the nearest bridge. The team then went on to complete the event but were later disqualified, and a new hike rule was added to prohibit this in the future.

Events

The Hike currently comprises four different competitions, each of different lengths and following a slightly different route. The competitions are identified below.

Discontinued events

Routes and checkpoints

The hike does not prescribe a specific route for hikers to use. It publishes a series of checkpoints from which a navigation exercise will deduce the best route to take. In most cases there is usually one obvious path, however, there are some sections where a choice can be made by the navigator.

Event records

Records do not include times before 2003.

Classic

Explorer

ScoutPlus

Scout

Jubilee Plus

Marketing and branding

The Three Towers Hike has adopted the Scout Association's branding style including the use of the SerifBlack font family in Scout Purple and Green. Its self-developed brand has raised the event's visibility and is now recognisable as part of the hike's identification.

Tagline

The Three Towers Hike's tagline is "Outdoors, Challenge, Adventure". This was created to convey the core values of the competition.