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Trail running routes in South Pennines

Gritstone moors between the Yorkshire Dales and the Peak: Ilkley Moor, Stoodley Pike and Boulsworth Hill, most of them reachable by train.

14
Routes
17.0km
Avg distance
6,674m
Total ascent

Areas

CalderdaleEarl CragElslack MoorRombalds MoorRossendaleTrawden ForestWycoller

Which route should I choose?

14 routes in South Pennines, from 5.9 km to 35.1 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: 11 run by TRP, 3 checked against the GPX file only. Each route page says which.

First trail run here

Low effort, easy ground, shortest first.

Under 10 km

An hour or so, whatever your pace.

A long day out

Over 25 km. Take food, take a map.

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 14 routes in one table
RouteDistanceClimbGradeGroundGetting there
Pinhaw Beacon from Lothersdale5.9 km225 mModeratemoorlandBus or train
The Atom Panopticon from Wycoller Country Park6.3 km125 mModeratemoorlandBus or train
The Twelve Apostles and Rombalds Moor Trig from the Cow and Calf7.7 km248 mModeratemoorlandBus or train
Lunds Tower and Wainmans Pinnacle from Crosshills8.8 km250 mHardmoorlandBus or train
Ilkley Moor from the Cow and Calf9.5 km287 mModeratemoorlandBus or train
Burley Moor Stone Circles from the Cow and Calf11.6 km320 mHardmoorlandBus or train
Stoodley Pike from Hebden Bridge12.5 km300 mHardmoorlandBus or train
Boulsworth Hill from Trawden13.9 km440 mVery HardmoorlandBus or train
Ilkley to Rombalds Moor Loop15.6 km373 mHardmoorlandBus or train
Heptonstall and Hardcastle Crags24.0 km859 mVery HardmoorlandBus or train
Salt and Pepper Pots from Skipton26.3 km830 mVery HardmoorlandBus or train
Ilkley, Rombalds Moor, Roman Road and Addingham28.7 km565 mHardmoorlandBus or train
Wadsworth Trog31.5 km1,044 mVery HardmoorlandBus or train
The Ilkley Skyline35.1 km808 mVery HardmoorlandBus or train
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14 routes

Boulsworth Hill from TrawdenVERY HARD
Boulsworth Hill from Trawden
13.9km · 440m climb · Loop
Boulsworth is the whaleback that dominates every view around Trawden, and standing on Lad Law at 517m you look across Pendle, the Dales and, on a clear day, out to the coast.
Fell runNo car needed
Checked Jul 2026
Burley Moor Stone Circles from the Cow and CalfHARD
Burley Moor Stone Circles from the Cow and Calf
11.6km · 320m climb · Loop
Four thousand years of prehistory in one loop. Rombalds Moor carries over 400 cup-and-ring marked stones, and this route strings the best of them together before dropping you onto two kilometres of Burley Moor that almost nobody runs.
No car neededDog friendly
Heptonstall and Hardcastle CragsVERY HARD
Heptonstall and Hardcastle Crags
24.0km · 859m climb · Loop
You get the full Calderdale contrast in one loop: the deep, wooded gorge of Hardcastle Crags and the wild open moor above, joined by the cobbled hilltop village of Heptonstall.
No car neededDog friendly
Checked Jul 2026
Ilkley Moor from the Cow and CalfMODERATE
Ilkley Moor from the Cow and Calf
9.5km · 287m climb · Loop
You run straight up onto the moor of the famous song, past the Cow and Calf crags and out to the Twelve Apostles stone circle, with cup-and-ring carvings scattered underfoot.
No car neededDog friendly
Checked Jul 2026
Ilkley to Rombalds Moor LoopHARD
Ilkley to Rombalds Moor Loop
15.6km · 373m climb · Loop
Over 400 prehistoric cup-and-ring carved stones are scattered across this moor, and you'll pass several without trying - a working archaeological landscape disguised as an ordinary heather moor.
No car neededDog friendly
Checked Jun 2026
Ilkley, Rombalds Moor, Roman Road and AddinghamHARD
Ilkley, Rombalds Moor, Roman Road and Addingham
28.7km · 565m climb · Loop
You climb out of pretty Ilkley onto the wide gritstone shoulder of Rombalds Moor, then swing back through the green lower Wharfe valley for a big, varied day close to home.
No car neededDog friendly
Checked Jul 2026
Lunds Tower and Wainmans Pinnacle from CrosshillsHARD
Lunds Tower and Wainmans Pinnacle from Crosshills
8.8km · 250m climb · Loop
You get onto the quiet western shoulder of Rombalds Moor, away from the Ilkley crowds, with wide views over Wharfedale one way and Airedale the other for a short, sharp climb.
No car neededDog friendly
Checked Jul 20261 ran this
Pinhaw Beacon from LothersdaleMODERATE
Pinhaw Beacon from Lothersdale
5.9km · 225m climb · Loop
Pinhaw Beacon is a tiny hill with an outsized view, looking into Lancashire one way and the Yorkshire Dales the other, and the trig carries a topograph with a sonnet to the NHS.
No car neededDog friendly
Checked Jul 20261 ran this
Salt and Pepper Pots from SkiptonVERY HARD
Salt and Pepper Pots from Skipton
26.3km · 830m climb · Loop
A point-to-point feel on a loop, linking a bustling market town to a wild gritstone edge crowned by two eccentric Victorian towers with huge views to Pendle.
No car neededDog friendly
Checked Jul 2026
Stoodley Pike from Hebden BridgeHARD
Stoodley Pike from Hebden Bridge
12.5km · 300m climb · Loop
You climb from a canal in the valley floor to a 37m stone monument on the moor edge, and the view back over Calderdale from the base of the Pike is worth every metre of the climb.
No car neededDog friendly
Checked Jul 2026
The Atom Panopticon from Wycoller Country ParkMODERATE
The Atom Panopticon from Wycoller Country Park
6.3km · 125m climb · Loop
The Atom is a curved concrete shell you can stand inside, and from the doorway it frames Pendle Hill one way and Boulsworth the other. You get both without a long day out.
No car neededDog friendly
Checked Jul 2026
The Ilkley SkylineVERY HARD
The Ilkley Skyline
35.1km · 808m climb · Loop
Eleven kilometres of unbroken moor crest, then you cross the valley and run the skyline back the other way with your entire morning laid out in front of you. It is the biggest day available from an Ilkley train station.
No car needed
The Twelve Apostles and Rombalds Moor Trig from the Cow and CalfMODERATE
The Twelve Apostles and Rombalds Moor Trig from the Cow and Calf
7.7km · 248m climb · Loop
You touch the highest point of the moor and a Bronze Age stone circle inside eight kilometres, on paths good enough to run nearly all of. It is the best hour available on Ilkley Moor.
No car neededDog friendly
Wadsworth TrogVERY HARD
Wadsworth Trog
31.5km · 1,044m climb · Loop
This is the Wadsworth Trog, a proper Calderdale beast: mile after mile of high Pennine moor, peat bog and reservoir embankment that locals rate among the toughest moorland rounds in the north.
Fell runNo car needed
Checked Jul 2026

Races in South Pennines

All South Pennines races →

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

31

Oct

2026

Race You To The Summit

Summit Inn, Littleborough · Cragg Runner

A four-mile Halloween fell race from the Summit Inn at Littleborough, with eight hundred feet of climb in it.

4.3 miles244 m climb
Navigation required

Entries open

8

Nov

2026

Soyland Moor

Hinchliffe Arms, Cragg Vale · Cragg Runner

Thirteen and a half miles of fell over Soyland Moor from the Hinchliffe Arms at Cragg Vale, under FRA rules.

13.5 miles396 m climb
Navigation required

Entries open

28

Nov

2026

Stanza Stones 50 Mile Ultra

Marsden Cricket Club · Cragg Runner

Fifty miles from Marsden to Ilkley past the six Stanza Stones poems, run twice a year in winter and summer.

50 miles2,073 m climb
Navigation required

Entries open

12

Dec

2026

Moors The Merrier 21

Mytholmroyd Community Centre · Cragg Runner

Twenty-one miles round the moors above Hebden Bridge in December, in a Santa hat, with a present for the bran tub.

21 miles
Navigation required

Entries open

About running in South Pennines

Gritstone moors between the Yorkshire Dales and the Peak: Ilkley Moor, Stoodley Pike and Boulsworth Hill, most of them reachable by train.

Fourteen routes from a 5.9km blast up Pinhaw Beacon to the 35km Ilkley Skyline. Rombalds Moor above Ilkley has the biggest cluster, with the Cow and Calf as the usual start; Calderdale gives you Stoodley Pike, Hardcastle Crags and the Wadsworth Trog out of Hebden Bridge; and the Lancashire side has Boulsworth Hill and Wycoller. Ilkley, Hebden Bridge and Skipton all have stations, so this is some of the easiest car-free hill running in the north. It's peat and heather up top: fast when dry, heavy after rain. 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 14 trail running routes in South Pennines on Trail Running Planet, covering 7 areas. All routes include free GPX downloads and honest grading.