Dave's Mountain Bike
Mania- 'Rail Trails' & Cycle Routes
Off Road Cycling guide to converted
Railways & Trails in
Derbyshire & Nottinghamshire and beyond!!
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Derbyshire High Peak Trail.
We cycled the High Peak Trail June 2003, This page is about the
Derbyshire High Peak Trail in Derbyshire. Approx 30 miles of off road cycle routes on the
former North Western Railway lines. Parts of the line was closed in the early
1960's, Middleton part of the line closed in 1963, and the last Trains ran in
spring 1967 and in 1971 work started to turn the former railway line into a 17½ mile cycle route thru the
Derbyshire peaks.
All Pics June 2003
The High Peak Trail has 3 cycle hire centres, One is at
Middleton Top near Matlock, another at Ashbourne ( Tissington trail), and
lastly at Parsley Hay where the High Peak and Tissington Trails merge. The
Trail is varied but mostly fairly easy going apart from one section from the
High peak junction at Cromford and is all up hill on a rough incline track
with ruts galore passing thru Black Rocks carrying on up to Middleton Tops.
The High Peak Trail has only one steep incline from Middleton
Tops to Parsley Hay which is just over a mile from Middleton Tops, apart from
this it is virtually quite flat and requires hardly any effort to keep a good
pace going.
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This 1 in 8 gradient section is around 2½
miles long though it seems like an eternity to get to the top, even for the
more hardened mountain biker. The rest is full of spectacular views with
numerous picnic sites along the route, and even has long Tunnels to go
through. The two trails have been cycle routes for around 30 years or so give
or take a few years though they are well maintained.
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We cycled approx 24 miles from Middleton Tops to
Parsley Hay and back tracked to Middleton Tops again. This route is Very
easy, suitable for all ages
The Trail was dry and
dusty, and for a hot summers day and on a Sunday, it was reasonably quiet, we
did expect a lot more people cycling than there actually was. My wife Wendy,
had a new Giant Boulder FS hardtail mountain bike the day before we cycled the
High Peak trail, so it was her first proper ride out on it.
Ordnance Survey Grid References
Middleton Tops visitor centre & cycle hire grid reference SK 275 551
High Peak Junction (with Car park) SK 314 516
Parsley Hay cycle hire SK 147 636
Ashbourne cycle hire SK 175 469