The Monsal Trail
Welcome to the Monsal Trail. The old Midland Railway line now carries walkers, cyclists and horse riders for 8½ miles through the limestone dales of the Peak District, from Blackwell Mill near Buxton to Bakewell. Along the way you cross Headstone Viaduct, walk through lit railway tunnels and look down on the River Wye far below.
Here you’ll find a collection of circular walks from the trail, with maps, printable guides and GPX files, and the stories of the stations, mills and people along the line.
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Find a walk
Circular walks from short strolls to full-day hikes, each starting from the trail or crossing it along the way. Every walk has a free overview with photos; the full step-by-step guide and GPX file are available to buy from £1.50.
Choose a walk length below, or compare all the walks by length, climb and start point →
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Explore the Goyt Valley
Just a few miles west of Buxton, the Goyt Valley winds through gritstone moorland and woods, past two reservoirs and the ruins of Errwood Hall – a contrast to the limestone dales of the White Peak. This companion website has a wide range of walks for every ability, with maps, history and practical information.
Stories from the trail
There’s more to the Monsal Trail than the walking. Here you’ll find the stories behind the mills, caves and stations along the line, along with news about the trail and its future.
Deep Dale rewilding
Topley Pike Quarry lies close to the Buxton end of the Monsal Trail. Plans to return it to a nature reserve have been put on hold because of planning problems. Which is a great shame.
Facebook Group launched
I decided it was time to promote this website to a wider audience by launching a Facebook Group. Otherwise it does start to feel like I’m talking to myself. And that’s never a good thing.
Cressbrook Mill
Cressbrook Mill escaped the fearful reputation of Litton Mill. But an eight-year-old girl snatched from a Bristol workhouse wrote a searing account of how ‘Tom the Devil’ ruled with a rod of iron.
Litton Mill
Litton Mill earned a brutal reputation for the exploitation and ill treatment of pauper orphans taken by force from the streets of cities as far away as London to work long hours in dangerous conditions.
Headstone Viaduct
Victorian critic John Ruskin famously complained that Headstone Viaduct allowed “every fool in Buxton to be in Bakewell in half-an-hour”. Today we see it in a very different light.
Magpie Mine
Magpie Mine was Derbyshire’s last lead mine, finally closing in 1953. It was the site of three murders in 1833, and a widow’s curse which foretold yet more deaths and accidents to come.