Trail running routes in Peak District · 16
Gritstone edges in the Dark Peak, limestone dales in the White. An hour from five major cities.
16
Routes
19.2km
Avg distance
7,834m
Total ascent
Areas
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16 routes
HARD
Black Hill and Crowden Little Brook Loop
Black Hill's peat-black plateau feels as remote as anywhere in the Peak, and the return along the edge above Laddow Rocks is some of the best moor-edge running in the north.
No car neededDog friendly
VERY HARD
Derwent Dam and Ladybower Dam Circuit
Nearly 25km of genuinely runnable, mostly traffic-free trail with almost no climbing - this is where to go in the Peak District when you want distance in your legs, not vertical.
Dog friendly
HARD
Easter Gate, March Haigh and Black Moss Reservoirs
You string together three reservoirs and a stretch of the Pennine Way on quiet moor tracks, with the whole of Marsden Moor opening out around you and almost nobody else about.
No car neededDog friendly
VERY HARD
Edale Skyline
You spend almost the whole loop on the skyline itself, linking gritstone edges and summits with the Edale valley dropping away below you the entire way round.
Fell runNo car needed
VERY HARD
Edale, Mam Tor, Win Hill and Derwent Dam from Ladybower
The Dark Peak's greatest hits in one loop - the Great Ridge, Edale, Win Hill's summit view down the Hope Valley - linked up so you never have to double back on yourself.
No car neededDog friendly
VERY HARD
Holme Moss to Snailsden and Britland Edge Hill
It packs a genuine sense of wilderness into ten kilometres - trackless peat, two rarely-visited tops and the huge radio mast of Holme Moss as your landmark all the way round.
Fell run
VERY HARD
Kinder Scout from Hayfield
You get onto the highest ground in the Peak District on a route steeped in access history, with the plateau edges giving fast, airy running once you are up.
Fell runNo car needed
HARD
Langsett to Margery Hill and High Stones
You start on an easy reservoir track through pine woods and end up on the remotest tops in the county, at High Stones and Margery Hill, with the Howden and Derwent moors rolling away empty in every direction.
No car neededDog friendly
HARD
Mam Tor and the Great Ridge
You run the entire Great Ridge end to end, a paved skyline with the Hope and Edale valleys falling away on either side, then loop through Castleton beneath the caves and old road.
No car neededDog friendly
HARD
Marsden 10 Mile Challenge
It is the whole of Marsden Moor in one loop - Wessenden, Standedge and the reservoir chain - on ground that carries centuries of packhorse and canal history, and you can run it door to door from the train.
No car neededDog friendly
HARD
Stairway to Heaven from Wessenden
The stepped pull out of Wessenden that gives the route its name delivers you straight onto the roof of the moor, with the whole reservoir valley dropping away behind you in one go.
No car neededDog friendly
VERY HARD
The Grand Edale Circular
The full Peak District experience — deep peat bog, gritstone edges, and those big Kinder views. Earn the ridge on the way back in.
No car neededDog friendly
HARD
The Roaches and Lud's Church
Two of the most distinctive bits of the whole Peak District back to back. The Roaches ridge has proper exposure and Lud's Church is one of those places that makes you stop and look twice.
Dog friendly
Checked Jun 2026
MODERATE
Torside to Woodhead Tunnels via the Longdendale Trail
It is a rare flat, fast run in the Dark Peak - a traffic-free old railway line running dead level past four reservoirs to the great stone mouths of the Woodhead tunnels.
Good for beginnersNo car needed
EXPERT
White Peak Six Dales Loop
You connect a whole run of limestone dales in one loop, swapping the gritstone moors of the Dark Peak for clear rivers, green valleys and dry-stone-walled plateau.
Dog friendly
MODERATE
Win Hill and Ladybower Loop
Win Hill's summit is a bare gritstone knuckle with one of the widest views in the Dark Peak - Kinder, the Derwent moors and the whole Hope Valley at once - for a climb you can fit into a morning.
No car neededDog friendly
About running in Peak District
Gritstone edges in the Dark Peak, limestone dales in the White. An hour from five major cities.
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