Length: 26.0 km (16.1 mi) [For a shorter or longer walk see below Walk Options]
Ascent/Descent: 719m
Net Walking Time: 7 ¼ hours
Toughness: 8 out of 10
Meet outside Buxton Train Station at 09.30 hours (or join along the route).
[Buses for shortcuts at the start: just line 199 at 8.55/9.55; the 65 runs too late on Sundays to be of use.]
Explore the most beautiful stretch of one of the most famous dales of the White Peak from historical Buxton.
You leave the town along its northerly fringes to proceed through pastures under Fairfield Low to the scenic dry valley of Woo Dale. At its junction with the Wye Valley, which will change name several times along the route, rise steeply onto the rim of Wye Dale and follow it to the junction with Great Rocks Dale, where the famous Chee Dale starts, featuring tight gorges, overhanging limestone rockfaces, submerged paths conquered via stepping stones and powerful springs surging out of the rocky ground, with the imposing viaducts of a dismantled railway line criss-crossing the route. Then go on to Miller’s Dale for a riverside lunch.
You leave the town along its northerly fringes to proceed through pastures under Fairfield Low to the scenic dry valley of Woo Dale. At its junction with the Wye Valley, which will change name several times along the route, rise steeply onto the rim of Wye Dale and follow it to the junction with Great Rocks Dale, where the famous Chee Dale starts, featuring tight gorges, overhanging limestone rockfaces, submerged paths conquered via stepping stones and powerful springs surging out of the rocky ground, with the imposing viaducts of a dismantled railway line criss-crossing the route. Then go on to Miller’s Dale for a riverside lunch.
The return route starts along the dismantled railway line past some old limekilns and an abseiling bridge, back to Chee Dale, before rising steeply out of the dale onto some high pastures with views. You pass Britain’s highest chambered tomb and its highest church spire, go through the fascinating Deep Dale (named for a reason) with its cave and pass some quiet villages to enter Buxton past two of its own railway viaducts.
An Alternative Ending follows the Wye Valley further past the former Litton and Cressbrook Mills, notorious for their working conditions at the time, and through a nature reserve up to Monsal Head for tea, with its renowned views down to a wide bend in the valley and to a very pretty viaduct. A quiet stretch through Monsal Dale to a bus stop on the A6 rounds off the route (today, buses leave at xx.10 to 19.10, then 20.55). A tougher version of that alternative ending follows an exposed path high up on the other side of the valley.
Walk Options
Lots of options (see the webpage or the pdf for details), they basically boil down to the following:
Buses to shorten the route (check the route map for the location of the stops);
modest Extensions right after lunch;
an Alternative Ending in Monsal Dale;
a Variation of the middle part of the Alternative Ending.
Elevenses: Blackwell Mill Cycle Hire and Tuck Shop at Blackwell Mill Cottages (7.5 km/4.7 mi into the walk).
Lunch: Angler’s Rest in Miller’s Dale (11.8 km/7.3 mi into the walk, food all day); The Refreshment Room at Millers Dale Station (12.3 km/7.6 mi into the walk).
Tea: numerous options en route and in Buxton or at Monsal Dale. Check the webpage of the pdf for details.
For walk directions, maps, height profiles, photos and gpx/kml files click here. T=swc.385