Loughton is a suburban town and civil parish in the Epping Forest District of Essex, within the metropolitan and urban area of London, England, 12 miles north-east of Charing Cross. The town borders Waltham Abbey, Theydon Bois, Chigwell, Chingford, and Buckhurst Hill. The parish of Loughton covers part of Epping Forest. It is the most populous in the Epping Forest district, and second most populous in Essex. At the 2021 census, it had a population of 33,353.