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Trail running routes in Peak District

Gritstone edges and peat moor in the Dark Peak, limestone dales in the White, and a railway line running straight through the middle of it all.

19
Routes
19.6km
Avg distance
9,538m
Total ascent

Areas

BakewellDerwent ValleyEastern MoorsEdaleHathersageHolme ValleyHope ValleyKinder ScoutLangsettLongdendaleMarsden MoorStaffordshire MoorlandsWhite Peak

Start from a town

Routes near BakewellRoutes near Edale

Our picks: Best trail runs in the Peak District →

Which route should I choose?

19 routes in Peak District, from 10.2 km to 42.5 km. If it is your first time here, start with the easy group below. Every route has a free GPX file, a TRP grade and a note on parking and transport.

Checked: 19 checked against the GPX file only. Each route page says which.

First trail run here

Low effort, easy ground, shortest first.

A long day out

Over 25 km. Take food, take a map.

Firm underfoot in wet weather

Lowest mud rating in the region.

Technical ground

Terrain 4 or 5. Rock, scramble, or hands-on-knees.

By train or bus

Starts you can reach without a car.

Compare all 19 routes in one table
RouteDistanceClimbGradeGroundGetting there
Torside to Woodhead Tunnels via the Longdendale Trail10.2 km51 mModeratepathBus or train
Holme Moss to Snailsden and Britland Edge Hill10.4 km155 mVery HardmoorlandDrive, parking listed
The Roaches and Lud's Church12.4 km539 mHardpathDrive, parking listed
Mam Tor and the Great Ridge12.6 km502 mHardfellBus or train
Win Hill and Ladybower Loop13.1 km282 mModeratepathBus or train
Stairway to Heaven from Wessenden13.8 km342 mHardmoorlandBus or train
Kinder Scout from Hayfield13.9 km469 mVery HardmoorlandBus or train
Black Hill and Crowden Little Brook Loop14.4 km426 mHardmoorlandBus or train
Marsden 10 Mile Challenge16.4 km357 mHardmoorlandBus or train
Easter Gate, March Haigh and Black Moss Reservoirs16.8 km349 mHardmoorlandBus or train
Bleaklow Head and Torside Clough from Torside Reservoir16.9 km425 mVery HardmoorlandBus or train
Langsett to Margery Hill and High Stones18.3 km343 mHardmoorlandBus or train
Burbage, Stanage Edge and Higger Tor from Grindleford24.0 km711 mHardmoorlandBus or train
Derwent Dam and Ladybower Dam Circuit24.3 km165 mHardpathDrive, parking listed
Stanage Edge and Robin Hood's Cave from Ecclesall Woods24.6 km568 mHardmoorlandDrive, parking listed
The Grand Edale Circular28.7 km1,344 mVery HardmoorlandBus or train
Edale Skyline29.5 km861 mVery HardfellBus or train
Edale, Mam Tor, Win Hill and Derwent Dam from Ladybower29.9 km1,207 mVery HardfellBus or train
White Peak Six Dales Loop42.5 km442 mVery HardpathDrive, parking listed
Sort:

19 routes

HARD
Black Hill and Crowden Little Brook Loop
14.4km · 426m climb · 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
Bleaklow Head and Torside Clough from Torside Reservoir
16.9km · 425m climb · Loop
You get a flat 5km warm-up, one long honest climb onto some of the emptiest peat in England, and then four kilometres of clear, fast descending along the lip of Torside Clough with the reservoir laid out below you.
Fell runNo car needed
HARD
Burbage, Stanage Edge and Higger Tor from Grindleford
24.0km · 711m climb · Loop
You can get here by train and step off the platform onto the route. Four of the best gritstone edges in the country in one loop, with Higger Tor and Carl Wark saved for 19km in when your legs are already talking.
No car neededDog friendly
HARD
Derwent Dam and Ladybower Dam Circuit
24.3km · 165m climb · Loop
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
16.8km · 349m climb · Loop
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
29.5km · 861m climb · Loop
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
29.9km · 1,207m climb · Loop
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
10.4km · 155m climb · Loop
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
13.9km · 469m climb · Loop
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
18.3km · 343m climb · Loop
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
12.6km · 502m climb · Loop
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
16.4km · 357m climb · Loop
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
13.8km · 342m climb · Loop
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
HARD
Stanage Edge and Robin Hood's Cave from Ecclesall Woods
24.6km · 568m climb · Loop
A genuine city-to-gritstone-and-back run. You leave a suburban car park, touch the Stanage trig and Stanedge Pole, and come home through the Porter Valley without ever getting in a car.
Dog friendly
VERY HARD
The Grand Edale Circular
28.7km · 1,344m climb · Loop
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
12.4km · 539m climb · Loop
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
10.2km · 51m climb · Out & back
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
VERY HARD
White Peak Six Dales Loop
42.5km · 442m climb · 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
13.1km · 282m climb · 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

Races in Peak District

All Peak District races →

The next races starting in Peak District, with runner reviews and what people wore where we have them. Train on the routes above.

26

Sept

2026

Ladybower Reservoir

Hope, Derbyshire · RunThrough Trails

Peak District moorland from the Hope Valley.

21 & 52 kmup to 2,200 m climb

Entries open

3

Oct

2026

Goyt Valley Challenge

Buxton Community School, College Road, Buxton · LDWA High Peak

A 26.2 or 14.3 mile loop of the western Peak from Buxton over Axe Edge, the Goyt Valley, Shining Tor and Lamaload. Moorland, so carry the kit for it.

14.3 & 26.2 miles
Navigation required

Entries open

£17–£23

7

Nov

2026

Six Dales Circuit

Biggin Village Hall, near Hartington, Derbyshire · LDWA Staffordshire

Twenty-five miles of White Peak dales from Biggin: Biggin, Wolfscote and Beresford Dales to Hartington, Monyash, Lathkill and Bradford Dales, and Long Dale home. Two hundred places.

25 miles
Navigation required

Entries open

£12–£20

21

Nov

2026

Peak District South & North

Edale, Derbyshire · Ranger Ultras

Fifty kilometres on the Saturday, forty-three on the Sunday, or both across one weekend.

Day 2 — 43 km, Day 1 — 50 km & Both Days — 93 kmup to 3,124 m climb
Navigation required

Entries open

About running in Peak District

Gritstone edges and peat moor in the Dark Peak, limestone dales in the White, and a railway line running straight through the middle of it all.

Nineteen routes from a flat 10km reservoir trail along Longdendale to the 42km White Peak Six Dales Loop, with the Edale Skyline and Kinder Scout in between. The Hope Valley line is the big advantage: Edale, Hope, Bamford and Grindleford stations all sit on or next to routes, and Marsden on the Huddersfield line does the same job for the northern moors. Kinder and Bleaklow are peat bog with poor visibility in cloud, so where a route says map skills, it means it. Every route has a free GPX download and an honest TRP Grade.

Safety reminder

In an emergency call 999 or 112 — ask for Police then Mountain Rescue.

No signal? Pre-register emergency SMS: text register to 999.

Safety guides →

Common questions

There are 19 trail running routes in Peak District on Trail Running Planet, covering 13 areas. All routes include free GPX downloads and honest grading.