WAGFINDER
Attraction · Derbyshire

Dovedale and the Stepping Stones

Thorpe
No reviews yet
WAGFINDER No photo yet · the business adds these when they claim

The most photographed limestone dale in England, with the stepping stones a few minutes upstream of the pay-and-display car park at Thorpe. The stones are flat-topped but spaced and go slick after rain, so most dogs are happier wading the shallow Dove alongside them, and you can stay on the Thorpe bank and not cross at all. The National Trust asks for short leads throughout, as there are sheep, lambs and cattle in the fields; from Ilam there is an alternative route that avoids the cows and the stiles and takes ten minutes longer.

THE SMALL PRINTShort leads throughout - sheep, lambs and cattle graze the riverside fields. Water bowls and dog bins at Ilam Park.

House rules, decoded

Livestock — leads on
Water bowls

More from the owner

Photos, a sample menu and prices, any room details and the venue’s own house rules will appear here once the business claims this listing. Until then, what you see above is what we’ve checked and verified ourselves.

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CLAIM THIS LISTING
REGION · DERBYSHIRE
GRID · 53.0550, -1.7829
SOURCE · HTTPS://WWW.NATIONALTRUST.ORG.UK/VISIT/PEAK-DISTRICT-DERBYSHIRE/ILAM-PARK-DOVEDALE-AND-THE-WHITE-PEAK/VISITING-ILAM-DOVEDALE-AND-THE-WHITE-PEAK-WITH-YOUR-DOG
Also in Thorpe
WAGFINDER No photo yet
440 YD © OpenStreetMap contributors 3.4 MI · LOOP
SOME LIMITS

Dovedale stepping stones and Thorpe Cloud

Thorpe · DE6 2AY
No reviews yet
3.4MILES
2:10TIME
230mCLIMB
94%OFF-ROAD
Livestock — leads on Water bowls

Three and a half miles and around two hours, flat along the river then a steep 130-metre pull up the grass cone of Thorpe Cloud for the view down the dale. The National Trust car park at Dovedale is the start, £4.50 for four hours and £6 all day, free to members, open 9am to 7.30pm and full by half past nine every summer weekend. Dogs can cross the stepping stones but the tops are worn smooth, uneven and slippery when wet, and most dogs are happier wading the ankle-deep shallows beside them; leads are required all year here because of grazing stock and the Dovedale National Nature Reserve, and there are water bowls and dog bins in the car park.

VERIFIED 29 JUL 2026 VIEW WALK ›
WAGFINDER No photo yet
1 MILE © OpenStreetMap contributors 5.2 MI · OUT & BACK
SOME LIMITS

Dovedale to Milldale and Viator's Bridge

Thorpe · DE6 2AY
No reviews yet
5.2MILES
2:50TIME
150mCLIMB
96%OFF-ROAD
Livestock — leads on Water bowls

Five miles there and back through the whole of Dovedale, about three hours, past Lover's Leap, the Twelve Apostles and Dove Holes to the packhorse bridge at Milldale. It starts from the National Trust Dovedale car park, £4.50 for four hours and £6 all day and free to members, and the boardwalk sections mean the going is easy apart from the stone steps at Lover's Leap. Leads are required all year through the National Nature Reserve and where stock graze, the river is shallow and constant so drinking and paddling are never a problem, and the narrow ledges above Dove Holes have a real drop on the river side.

VERIFIED 29 JUL 2026 VIEW WALK ›
WAGFINDER No photo yet
Stay NOT CHECKED YET

Hillcrest House

No reviews yet

Hillcrest House is a place to stay in Thorpe. It is listed here so you know it is there, but we have not yet established whether dogs are welcome — so there is no verdict on this page and no stamp. If it is your business, claim the page and tell us, and we will stamp it.

NOT CHECKED YET · IS THIS YOURS? VIEW ›
Reviews
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