Langsett, Peak District

Distance 47km (29.2 miles) Climbing 1,530m (ft) Time 3hrs 30mins to 5hrs

Route summary A big, tough, rocky and remote ride, but it can be cut short at various points if desired. Start/Finish Langsett Barn car park (grid ref SE 211/005, postcode S36 4GY).

1

Take the trail in the back-right corner of the car park, descend to the reservoir and head left. Go right, over the dam, then right after 150m on a bridleway (Joseph Lane). Ride through Upper Midhope and keep right on Thickwoods Lane. Climb beside some woods to the ruins of North America Farm.

2

Keep ahead through a gate and, at the next T-junction, go left, and up onto a stone track. Head across the moors, eventually descending with some technical zig-zags along the valley. Keep left, over a small footbridge, and fork left along the left-hand side of the valley and reservoir, on a good track.

3

Follow this wide gravel track all the way to a T-junction and go right. Descend to the Fairholmes visitor centre, then bear left on the road for 1.3km and right by the cattle grid, uphill on a bridleway. At the top, go through the gate and right, along the hilltop, then after another gate, head down and left.

4

Pass through a gate onto a rocky descent. After another gate ride to, and over, the road. Continue downhill and bear left after crossing the water. Climb, but when the track bears right, go left, downhill. At the bottom, join a cycle route uphill and proceed to a T-junction at Hope Cross. 5

Go right, along a rocky climb to a track crossing. Keep ahead (or take The Beast, a technical descent to the right, then back up the cycle path again). Descend to tarmac and go right, down then uphill, to the A57. Climb past Rowlee Farm, to the top. Keep ahead/left, downhill to the outdoor centre.

6

Head up a rocky climb, then downhill. Keep ahead/left, pass through a gate at the bottom and turn left on the road, beside the reservoir. Follow this as it becomes a track after the roundabout, back to a junction from earlier. Bear left (signed to Langsett), cross the bridge, then keep right to go back up.

7

Ride along Mickleden Edge and take the right fork heading right. Descend, joining alongside a wall (on the left), back to the North America junction. Go left through the gate, back along the track again, but this time, turn right at the T-junction for a rocky descent.

8

Cross the footbridge and go steeply uphill opposite, keeping ahead for 300m to a track crossing, where you turn right (on Brook House Lane), then right again onto a bridleway track leading back to the car park to finish.