Perhaps we should blame the Victorians for falling in love with Dove Dale for on a sunny Bank Holiday the valley looks more like Blackpool Beach. Yet in autumn and winter, when the world has retired indoors to tele-watching, this is still the most beautiful dale in the Peak District. Rock pinnacles reach for the sky, while beneath the trees the river murmurs on its meandering course then, climbing to Bunster Hill, you look down like a bird on the Garden of Eden.
LOCATION: South Peak District
START: Dove Dale car park, between Ilam & Thorpe, toilets Grid ref: SK147509 Postcode: DE6 2AX
DISTANCE: 4.5 miles
GRADE: Moderate
TIME: 2.5 hours
MAP: Outdoor Leisure - White Peak Landranger 119
REFRESHMENTS: Log Cabin & Izaac Walton Hotel
EN ROUTE: Ilam Rock, Reynard's Cave, Pickering Tor, Reynard's Cave, Thorpe Cloud
This walk was originally published by
The Manchester Evening News