Walks in the Peak District

From easy walks for all the family to tough day-long hikes on the hills and moorland of the Peak District. All the walks include pictures, statistics, maps, and GPS files for download. Each walk also includes a personal story of each adventure as I myself, or a friend, have walked every route described.

The view from Mam Tor across the Great Ridge to Lose Hill

The Peak District was not one of the earliest walking regions to be included on the Walking Englishman. This popular park had taken a place down the pecking order behind the Yorkshire Dales and the Lake District, primarily because both the Yorkshire Dales and the Lake District were closer to my home. Thus the area was overlooked for far too long. I first walked in the Peak District during the foot and mouth crisis in the 1990s when walking was banned in most areas. The Peak District was a shining beacon during that dark period as it remained open while every other national park in England was closed to walking. On that very first visit to the Peak District I stayed in the Buxton area for a long weekend and to my delight I found some super walks. In subsequent visits I learned more about the delights of this superb National Park and its two distinct areas; the Dark Peak of gritstone and the White Peak of limestone. I now return to the Peak District whenever I have the opportunity and as I do so new walks will appear on these pages.

Interactive map of the walks

Peak District Route Directory

Walk Route	Miles	Description
Curbar Edge and Froggatt Edge Easy	4.0	A fantastic gritstone edge walk for those who like to live on the precipice!
Chrome Hill and Parkhouse Hill Easy	4.3	A White Peak walk from Earl Sterndale to the two most famous limestone hills in the Peak District.
Low Bradfield, Agden Side, Rocher Edge and High Bradfield Easy	4.3	A lovely half-day walk on the outskirts of Sheffield. There is much to enjoy on this very popular route.
Matlock Bath Easy	5.1	A walk with many highlights including High Tor, Matlock Dale, and the Heights of Abraham.
Higger Tor and Padley Gorge Easy	5.5	A wonderful contrast of heather moor in late summer bloom and an oak wooded gorge are to enjoy here.
Thorncliffe Trail Easy	5.5	On the edge of the Peak District exploring history in an interesting part of north Sheffield.
Wetton Hill and Thor's Cave Easy	6.0	A circular walk to Thor's Cave, a fantastic adventure starting out from Wettonmill.
Lamaload Reservoir, Jenkin Chapel, Pym Chair, Cats Tor and Shining Tor Moderate	6.0	A Peak District walk from Lamaload Reservoir to Shining Tor via atmospheric Jenkin Chapel and the popular viewing point at Pym Chair.
Rivelin Valley Nature Reserves and Heritage Easy	6.2	A linear walk of Sheffield's historic Rivelin Valley from Redmires Reservoir to Rivelin Park.
Monsal Dale, High Dale, Miller's Dale and Monsal Trail Moderate	6.3	A stunning walk from Monsal Head into a series of dales, across a high plateau, and past old lime workings.
Stanage Edge from Hathersage Moderate	6.5	The iconic dark peak walk to the most famous millstone grit escarpment of them all.
Monk's Dale and Tideswell Dale Moderate	6.7	This walk through splendid dales is not as hard as some. It is a delightful walk, one I recommend.
Harthill Moor and Stanton Moor Moderate	6.7	Ancient sites abound on this two-moors walk including castle sites, stone circles, rock outcrops, and caves.
Thorpe Pastures, Upper Dove Dale, Bunster Hill, Dove Dale and Lin Dale Moderate	6.9	A variation on the popular Dove Dale walk featuring not just the valley but the hills on both sides too.
Curbar, Birchen Edge, Baslow Edge and Curbar Edge Moderate	8.4	A thrilling walk along a series of gritstone edges in the Eastern Peak District.
Mam Tor Ridge from Hope Moderate	8.5	This is clearly the most popular Peak District ridge walk on the environs of the Hope Valley.
Kinder Scout Hard	8.8	The objective of the honorable landmark Peak trespass. We were luckier than the pioneers of walking.
Ladybower Reservoir, Alport Castles and Ashop Dale Moderate	9.0	A lovely walk in the Dark Peak from Ladybower Reservoir to the outstanding Alport Castle landslip formations.
Redmires Reservoir, Stanage Edge and Hallam Moors Moderate	9.3	A wonderful walk to the west of Sheffield which also includes Stanage Pole, High Neb, and Hollow Meadows.
Gradbach, Lud's Church, The Roaches, Hen Cloud, Ramshaw Rocks and Dane Valley Moderate	9.5	A Peak District walk featuring the best and most popular gritstone edges in the south of the National Park.
The Monsal Trail Easy	9.9	Ken Brockway enjoys a linear walk of the Monsal Trail from Bakewell to Chee Dale.
Lathkill Dale and Bradford Dale Moderate	10.3	A walk to two extra special dales, one well known, one a delightful surprise.
Ladybower and Derwent Edge Moderate	10.5	A walk of contrast, a reservoir walk and then a moorland crossing followed by an exploration of Derwent Edge.
Wirksworth, Ecclesbourne Valley and Kirk Ireton Moderate	10.5	A countryside walk from Wirksworth in the pretty region which is home to the popular Ecclesbourne Valley Railway.
Derwent and Howden Reservoirs, Margery Hill and Howden Edge Hard	11.2	A Dark Peak walk to desolate and beautiful south Pennine moors which begins in the Upper Derwent Valley.
Monsal Dale from Bakewell Hard	11.7	A superb guest entry walk from Owain Roberts. A great report of a splendid walk.
Chrome Hill from Buxton Hard	12.0	A super Peak District hill to climb. We did it from Buxton in winter snow.
Shelf Moor and Bleaklow Hard	12.1	A tough walk but with many highlights including Torside Clough, Black Clough, and the Longdendale Trail.
The Great Ridge and Win Hill Hard	12.1	Climb to Mam Tor then leads to Hollins Cross, Back Tor, and Lose Hill before the outstanding Win Hill finale.
Lud's Church, the Roaches and Hen Cloud Hard	12.5	A superb walk taking in a host of classic Peak District landmarks including Hanging Stone.
Dovestone Rocks Hard	12.5	This walk from Ken Brockway is about a peak bagging exercise in the north-west corner of the park.
Dove Dale and Wolfscote Dale Hard	13.2	This is possibly the most popular of all the Peak District walks. There are many reasons why.
Baslow, Baslow Edge, Curbar Edge, Stoney Middleton, Great Longstone, Monsal Trail and Bakewell Hard	13.4	Follow this spectacular 12-mile linear walk on a beautiful but chilly winter's day.
The Baker Way Hard	13.4	A linear walk on the edge of the Peak District National Park from Delamere Forest Park to Chester.
Kinder Scout and the Great Ridge Hard	14.8	The epic number one and most popular challenge walk in the Peak District National Park.
Kinder Trespass Anniversary Walk Hard	15.3	This walk celebrates the trespass pioneers and also explores the industrial heritage of the area.
Six Dales Circuit Hard	26.7	This walk is marathon distance. The rewards are worth it though, a walk to six exceptional dales.
The Bullock Smithy Hike Hard	56.0	Adam Gallimore's brilliant report of his 56-mile challenge walk in 24 hours around the Peak District in 2012.

Feedback and Suggestions

I am always pleased to receive feedback on the structure and content of the website. I also welcome suggestions on how I can improve the website which may include new areas to cover, new walks, or route alterations to existing walks. To get in touch with feedback and/or suggestions please contact me on one of my social media links. Thank you.

(Note: Walking without proper preparation can be dangerous. Information and downloads on this website are provided free of charge; it is each walker's responsibility to check the material and use accordingly. Postscript: My walk reports are not route guides and should not be treated as such. They are written with personal reflections of my walks.)

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