Walk · Derbyshire

Cave Dale and Winnats Pass

Castleton

4.7MILES

2h 45mON FOOT

320mCLIMB

CircularSHAPE

The route A-road B-road Lane Track Path Water Woodland

Off-road 88% 12% shares tarmac with cars

Field & moor path 72%Lane & track 16%Road with traffic 12%

Our drawing of the route, over road and path data from OpenStreetMap. It shows where the walk goes and what it goes through. It is not a survey and not a navigation aid — carry OS Explorer on the hill. Off-lead information here is what walkers reported or what signage allows — never our advice. Whether and when a dog is off the lead is the owner’s decision and legal responsibility; keep dogs under control near livestock and follow signs on the day.

Starts at

Castleton main car park on Buxton Road, then Bar Gate into Cave Dale

Parking

Pay-and-display in the Castleton visitor centre car park; full by 10am at weekends and in half-term, with no free alternative in the village

Directions to the start →

Under five miles but nearly three hours, because both halves are steep: a rocky gorge climb out of Castleton and a return down the limestone cleft of Winnats Pass. The narrow entrance to Cave Dale is behind Bar Gate in the village; park in the Castleton main car park on Buxton Road, which is pay-and-display and the only sizeable option in the village. The lower gorge is a scramble over water-worn limestone that a small or elderly dog will struggle with, sheep graze the whole plateau and Winnats, and the National Trust asks for short leads all year across its High Peak land, tightened again from March to July for ground-nesting birds.

THE SMALL PRINTThe National Trust asks for dogs on short leads all year on its High Peak land because of grazing sheep, and particularly from March to July when ground-nesting birds are on the moor.

House rules, decoded

Livestock — leads on

REGION · DERBYSHIRE

GRID · 53.3457, -1.7773

SOURCE · HTTPS://WWW.NATIONALTRUST.ORG.UK/VISIT/PEAK-DISTRICT-DERBYSHIRE/KINDER-EDALE-AND-THE-HIGH-PEAK/VISITING-THE-PEAK-DISTRICT-WITH-YOUR-DOG

Cave Dale and Winnats Pass

House rules, decoded

1530

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