Bakewell, Peak District

DISTANCE 36.1km (22.4 miles) CLIMBING 1,030m (3,379ft) TIME 2hrs 30mins to 4hrs

Route summary A good, varied route that’s lovely in summer, when the conditions are dry and fast, the views are beautiful and the tea rooms can be enjoyed al fresco!

Start/ inish Monsal Trail car park (grid ref SK 222/690, postcode DE45 1GE)

1

Join the Monsal Trail behind the old station. Follow it right (south), under a bridge, to the end. Go over a road (left then right) to the river, and along the valley. At the T-junction, go right on a wide track, to the A6. Turn right, then left into Intake Lane. Keep ahead through a field, to a road. Go left for 500m. As the road bears right, keep ahead, through a gate (bridleway). 2

Turn right before the trees by the farm buildings, through a gate and along the edge of the field. Follow the bridleway into the trees, downhill. Cross a bridge, go uphill to a road and follow it left to a crossroads in Bradford. Continue straight on, then, when the road bears right, go left on a bridleway.

3

Cross a bridge and go left by the river, then bear right, up to a track crossing. Go straight over this. When the track bears left, go right. Cross the fields, keeping ahead, and go over a minor road. Continue down, over a bridge and up to the B5056. Turn right on this. Take the first left, up to Birchover. Go right, after the shop, then left after 400m, on Clough Lane.

4

Continue over an o set track crossing and down a rough track. Keep ahead to join a road to the B5057. Turn left on this, over the river and railway, to the A6. Go right on this and then left, on the B5057 again. After 400m, turn left on a small road to the Plough Inn. Go left at the crossroads here, to a T-junction. Turn right on Hallmoor Road, uphill.

5

Keep ahead, uphill. Then fork right, up Long Hill. At the T-junction, go right, up Bent Lane. Turn left at the top/T-junction, towards Rowsley. When the road bears right, turn o left, through a gate. Go downhill, into the trees. Keep right at a bridleway junction, through the woods.

6

Continue to a road and go left. After a bendy downhill, turn o right on a bridleway, just after a house, into the woods. Go right after a wooden bridge, through some gates and fields. Follow a farm track up to a road and turn right. After 1km, when the road bears right, go left, around the wood, downhill, on what becomes a tarmac track. Turn right on the B6012.

7

Follow the road to Edensor and turn left through the large gates, following the signs to the tea rooms. Keep ahead on the road, uphill. This becomes a rough track, then joins a road. Keep ahead, into the trees, then bear o left on a bridleway. After a steep downhill, cross a golf course and follow the road (B6408) back to the start.