Hathersage, Peak District

DISTANCE 29.7km (18.5 miles) CLIMBING 850m (2,789ft) TIME 2hrs 30mins to 4hrs

Start/ inish Surprise View car park, off the A6187 south-west of Hathersage (grid ref SK 251/801, postcode S32 1DA)

Route summary A ride offering a superb variety of trails, from remote moorland crossings to technical rocky descents and even some lowing manmade singletrack

1Turn left out of the car park, on the A6187. Roughly 500m on from the Fox House pub, turn sharply left, onto the A625 towards She!eld. After 0.9km, turn right, through a gate and onto a bridleway. Follow this out onto the moors. At the T-junction, bear left on a wider track.

2After nearly 1km, turn left at a junction, through a gate. Follow this nice singletrack bridleway around the hillside, down to the bottom and through a gate. Bear left, uphill, across the grass, on what becomes a more obvious and better trail, until you near a road and a small car park.

3Go right on the bridleway parallel to the road. Ignore the first bridleway on the right (unless you want to extend the route), pass through the gate and head downhill. At the T-junction, turn right, down a rooty descent. Turn left at the track crossing to join Shorts Lane, which bears left and becomes tarmac. At the crossroads, go right.

4Follow the road right and then left, uphill to the A625. Turn right on this, then take the first left (Sheephill Road). After 500m, turn left, through a gate, onto a bridleway. Keep ahead at the track crossing, over the moors and alongside Lady Canning’s Plantation. At the next track crossing, turn right, through a gate. Keep ahead/left to join the waymarked MTB trail through the wood.

5At the end of the trail, keep left to emerge at the Lady Canning’s car park. Go left on the road, to a T-junction by a pub. Turn left, then immediately right, onto Fulwood Lane. Follow this road, keeping left at the forks, until a T-junction with Brown Hills Lane. Go left here, then left again at the next T-junction, beside Redmires Reservoir.

6When you reach the end of the reservoir, bear right on a rough track, past a barrier. Head uphill, across the moor and past Stanage Pole. When the trail bears right, peel o" left, to the cli" edge. Follow the technical, rocky path down Stanage Edge. Keep ahead/right on the obvious track at the bottom, to the car park. Turn left on the road, left at the T-junction and, after passing another car park, right at the next T-junction.

7Continue downhill for 1km, then go left on a track as the road bears right. Keep ahead, as the path becomes rough. Continue past a ruin and follow a faint track right, alongside the wall, uphill. Turn right on the road and follow it downhill for 1.5km. At the T-junction with the A625, go left, back to the car park.