Mam Tor and the Great Ridge

The Great Ridge walk links Mam Tor, Back Tor and Lose Hill, the high spine that separates the Hope Valley from the Edale valley in the Peak District National Park, Derbyshire. The circuit starts in Castleton, near the Castleton Visitor Centre on Cross Street, where a pay-and-display car park serves drivers. Without a car, visitors take a Northern train from Manchester Piccadilly to Hope in about 45 minutes, then the Hope Valley bus 271 or a walk of about 3 km to Castleton. No permit is needed. The route is about 10 km with roughly 400 m of ascent and is graded moderate: the climbs are sustained but there is no technical scrambling. Paths are mostly stone-flagged or firm dirt, with stone steps on the steepest sections, and the ridge itself is open and exposed, with no shade and strong winds on bad days. Most walkers climb from Castleton by way of Hollins Cross or Cave Dale and Mam Nick to reach Mam Tor at 517 m, whose summit carries the ramparts of an Iron Age hillfort. The shattered road on the south-west face, nicknamed the Shivering Mountain for its landslips, is visible below. From Mam Tor the ridge path runs east over Hollins Cross to Back Tor, where a steep rocky edge drops towards Edale, and then to Lose Hill at 476 m, with views over the Hope Valley to Win Hill and the Kinder plateau. The route then descends to Hope and returns to Castleton by field paths. Sensible turn-around points are Hollins Cross, which has several clear paths down to either valley, or Mam Tor itself for a shorter out-and-back. There are no huts or shelters on the ridge, and drinking water should be carried. Cafes, pubs and public toilets are in Castleton, and the Blue John and Peak caverns are close by for a wet-weather alternative.